The Old Guitarist was a part of Picasso's Blue Period. However, the only non-blue object and difference in color in the painting is the guitar. The rest of the painting is composed of different shades of blue. Perhaps the guitar represents hope and dreams for the hopeless guitarist. When Picasso was painting Guitarist, the Symbolist movement was making its way through literature. Works created during this time included 'blind characters who possessed powers of inner vision."Therefore, Picasso may have drawn some inspiration from a well-written novel. Finally, the "thin, skeleton-like" old man is similar to the figures in the works of El Greco, a 16th-century artist.
A fun fact about the painting is there is an almost invisible woman behind the ear and neck of the old man. Some believe that Picasso started on another painting but decided to paint the Guitarist over it because of a low supply of materials.
The original artwork is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago in the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.
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