The Old Guitarist was painted during Picasso’s blue period. This was a period of depression he endured after his dear friend and poet Casagemas committed suicide. The color blue is associated with sadness and grief in these works. During this time, Picasso lived was creating work centered around poverty and the destitute as spent time with the less fortunate between Spain and Paris. His work gave insight to the conditions of poverty and as a criticism of society and the class structure. He typically painted these works in monochromatic blues and included a few shades of brown with oil paints. Even the skin tones featured washed out blues and minimal use of browns.
Fine Evening on the Coast in Prussian Blue is a stark contrast and departure from Picasso’s gloomy and emotional works. This image features a body of water with mountains and a rainbow. It gives off a peaceful and calming vibe. Utagawa Hiroshige’s work is created using the Japanese woodblock technique and used Prussian Blue. This color blue, also known as Berlin or Parisian blue was created from a dark pigmented blue made from a chemical process by oxidizing ferrocyanide salts. It was created in berlin in the early 1700’s by paint maker Johann Jacob Dieshbach.
