Pablo Picasso El Bobo

Angela Liu:

In Spanish, bobo can either mean a naive person or a fool. Dressed in rags and a traditional Spanish hat with pom-poms covering his unkempt hair, the man holds a bottle of wine while frying two eggs in a pan that strategically covers his crotch. You may see him as a free spirit, unbound by societal norms. He appears perfectly content with the food and drink in his hands.

However, he also resembles a court jester and little people, which were a popular subject of Spanish Renaissance court paintings. Court jesters served as entertainers or attendants to the aristocracy. While often not taken seriously, their unique position in court granted them more liberties and special privileges. Perhaps, while he was studying traditional little people portraits by past artists, Picasso looked at their role as carefree entertainers and felt a connection.

NARRATOR:

The title of this artwork is El Bobo. Created by Pablo Picasso in 1959, it is oil and enamel on canvas that measures ninety-two centimetres in height and approximately seventy-three centimetres in width.

In black strokes, the painting outlines a man in shabby clothes sitting on the ground, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a frying pan with two sunny-side-up eggs in the other. He is wearing a wide-brimmed black hat, and his face is twisted into a grin. There are trees around him and a hazy, greenish sky behind, with white-capped, dark green mountains visible in the distance.

The painting is about half the height of a door, with the man nearly filling the entire frame. He sits barefoot in the mud, his legs spread wide and raised. His white shirt is open, exposing his chest, navel, and genitals. One knee protrudes through a hole in either his shirt or pants. In one hand, he holds a dark red bottle, while the other grips a black frying pan. The pan hangs in front of his genitals, covering the base of his penis and testicles. The tip of his penis, however, is visible. The frying pan faces outward, showing two sunny-side-up eggs in the position where the man’s two testicles would be. The man’s face is flushed, with rosy cheeks. One of his eyes is higher than the other, while his nostrils point skywards, and a wide grin reveals white teeth. His messy black hair is partially hidden under the large black hat, which has an upturned brim and three black pom-poms attached to the top and sides.

There are patches of green foliage around the man and a brown tree trunk on one side. In the background, dark green mountains rise in the distance, their peaks highlighted with white strokes to mimic snow. The sky above these snow-capped mountains has a greenish, dusky tone.