The Old Guitarist - Infrared Discoveries

Infrared Discoveries

Recent x-rays and examinations from curators found three figures peering behind the old guitarist’s body. The three figures are an old woman with her head bent forward, a young mother with a small child kneeling by her side, and an animal on the right side of the canvas. Despite unclear imagery in crucial areas of the canvas, experts determined that at least two different paintings are found beneath The Old Guitarist.

In 1998, researchers used an infrared camera to penetrate the uppermost layer of paint (the composition of The Old Guitarist) and clearly saw the second-most composition. By using this camera, researchers were able to determine a young mother seated in the center of the composition, reaching out with her left arm to her kneeling child at her right, and a calf or sheep on the mother’s left side. Clearly defined, the young woman has long, flowing dark hair and a thoughtful expression.

The Art Institute of Chicago shared its infrared images with the Cleveland Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Curator, William Robinson, identified a sketch of Picasso sent to his friend Max in a letter. It revealed the same composition of mother and child, but it had a cow licking the head of a small calf. In a letter to his friend Jacob, Picasso reveals he was painting this composition a few months before he began The Old Guitarist. Despite all of these discoveries, no one knows why Picasso did not complete the composition of the mother and child or what the composition of the older woman looks like and its significance.