Description:
landscape; water; man; woman; child
Label Text:
In 1901 Picasso entered his "Blue Period." Poor and little-known, he sought to establish a link between the condition of his own life and his art. Rendered in a palette of blue hues, his works from this phase investigate the plight of the disadvantaged and dispossessed. "Figures by the Sea" depicts a man and a woman walking in unison. Though their silhouettes are joined in misery, each suffers alone. As the man reaches to the small boy beside him, the child reciprocates with a gesture of both union and vulnerability. The woman shelters an infant who is nearly lost beneath her shawl. Calligraphic brushstrokes animate the four figures and add an expressive intensity to this tragic scene while the flat brands of sky, sea and land underscore the barrenness of their existence.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1965.33 |
