Ο Πικάσο έκρυβε έναν άλλο Πικάσο. Who’s hiding behind Picasso’s “Blue Room”?

Ένα έργο του Πάμπλο Πικάσο που εικονίζει έναν γενειοφόρο άνδρα βρέθηκε κρυμμένο κάτω από το «Γαλάζιο Δωμάτιο» (φωτ. The Phillips Collection).  (Left) Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room, 1901, Oil on canvas. Acquired 1927. (Right) Infrared of Pablo Picasso’s The Blue Room (1901). The Phillips Collection, copyright 2008. A hidden painting beneath one of Pablo Picasso’s first masterpieces, “The Blue Room” (1901), was revealed by scientists and art experts of The Phillips Collection (Washington DC) through the use of imaging technology. The hidden painting shows a bow-tied man with his face resting on his hand. Now the question that conservators at The Phillips Collection hope to answer is simply: Who is he?

Ένα έργο του Πάμπλο Πικάσο που εικονίζει έναν γενειοφόρο άνδρα βρέθηκε κρυμμένο κάτω από ένα άλλο έργο του Πικάσο, το «Γαλάζιο Δωμάτιο», που ανήκει στη Συλλογή Φίλιπς στην Ουάσινγκτον, από το 1927.

According to the latest post about the hidden paintings identity, at The Phillips Collection blog, one of the most frequent suggestions the public has posted, tweeted or sent by email to the museum is Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939), a foremost European art dealer at the turn of the century, but there’s no documentation and no clues left on the canvass. “Known for his keen eye in recognizing rising stars, he amassed an impressive list of artistic connections, including Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and Vincent van Gogh. Vollard boasted the first one-man exhibition of Picasso’s work, and in fact the artist did create a portrait or two of his dealer during his lifetime. However, this was not a terribly uncommon practice. One Phillips patron wrote in noting that the small lips, body language and type, as well as outfit seem very similar to other portraits of Vollard. Another name that has come up several times is Pío Baroja (1872–1956). Baroja was a writer best known for his seminal work The Tree of Knowledge. While his novels never reached the height of popularity, likely due to his penchant for pessimism, he is still considered one of the leading Spanish novelists of the period. Baroja was a member of the Generation of ’98, a group that lead the way in avant-garde change in Spain and which paved the way for artists like Picasso. A Phillips follower tweeted that Picasso drew him for Arte Joven while in Madrid”. (Experiment Station, The Phillips Collection) The “mystery man” fuels new research about the 1901 painting created early in Picasso’s career while he was working in Paris at the start of his distinctive blue period of melancholy subjects.

Οι ειδικοί υποψιάζονταν από τη δεκαετία του 1950 ότι κάποιο έργο κρυβόταν κάτω από τον πίνακα του 1901, της «Γαλάζιας Περιόδου» του Ισπανού ζωγράφου, όπως δήλωσε η συντηρήτρια του Μουσείου, Σούζαν Φρανκ.

What lies beneath: The Blue Room, one of Pablo Picasso's first masterpieces, under a microscope at The Phillips Collection, Washington. Scientists and art experts have found a hidden painting beneath the painting.

Οι υποψίες τους επιβεβαιώθηκαν για πρώτη φορά το 2008, μετά από εξέταση του πίνακα με υπέρυθρες ακτίνες. Μόνο τους τελευταίους μήνες όμως, αφού ανέλυσαν και τις χρωστικές ουσίες που είχαν χρησιμοποιηθεί, διαπίστωσαν με βεβαιότητα ότι το «κρυφό» έργο ανήκε και αυτό στον Πικάσο.

Masterpiece: Curators are planning the first exhibit focused on The Blue Room as a seminal work in Picasso's career for 2017. It will also examine the revelation of the man's portrait beneath the painting. “The Blue Room” has been part of The Phillips Collection in Washington since 1927. Conservators long suspected there might be something under the surface of the painting, as brushstrokes on the piece clearly don’t match the composition that depicts a woman bathing in Picasso’s studio. A conservator noted the odd brushstrokes in a 1954 letter, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that an x-ray of the painting first revealed a fuzzy image of something under the picture. It wasn’t clear, though, that it was a portrait. In 2008, improved infrared imagery revealed for the first time a man’s bearded face resting on his hand with three rings on his fingers. He’s dressed in a jacket and bow tie. A technical analysis confirmed the hidden portrait is a work Picasso likely painted just before “The Blue Room,” curators said. After the portrait was discovered, conservators have been using other technology to scan the painting for further insights.

Ο άνδρας που εικονίζεται κάτω από το «Γαλάζιο Δωμάτιο» έχει μούσι και μουστάκι, είναι ηλικίας περίπου 40 ετών και από το κοστούμι του συμπεραίνεται ότι είναι εύπορος. Οι ιστορικοί τέχνης εικάζουν ότι ίσως να είναι προσωπογραφία του εμπόρου έργων τέχνης Αμπρουάζ Βολάρ ή του κριτικού Γκιστάβ Κοκιό, όμως προς το παρόν τίποτα δεν είναι βέβαιο, διευκρίνισε η Φρανκ.

The Blue Room in a vertical orientation in front of an infared camera: Suspicions were raised by brushstrokes on the piece which clearly don't match the composition that depicts a woman bathing in Picasso's studio. “When he had an idea, you know, he just had to get it down and realize it,” curator Susan Behrends Frank told the AP, revealing Picasso had hurriedly painted over another complete picture. “He could not afford to acquire new canvasses every time he had an idea that he wanted to pursue. He worked sometimes on cardboard because canvass was so much more expensive.”

«Οι μουσαμάδες ήταν ακριβοί και εκείνη την εποχή ο Πικάσο ήταν πολύ φτωχός», είπε η συντηρήτρια, εξηγώντας γιατί ο ζωγράφος επέλεξε να χρησιμοποιήσει την ίδια επιφάνεια δύο φορές.