Pablo Picasso José Ruiz Blasco, Father of the Artist

Angela Liu:

This is one of Picasso’s earliest paintings. He made this portrait of his father, José Ruiz y Blasco, when he was just thirteen or fourteen years old.

What makes this painting special though? The young Picasso’s talent is obvious. What’s more interesting is how this painting captures Picasso’s relationship with his father. Ruiz y Blasco was an art teacher, curator, and painter known for his depictions of birds, particularly pigeons and doves. The dove later became one of Picasso’s most well-known motifs.

Picasso’s father played an important role in Picasso’s journey in becoming an artist. Not only did he encouraged Picasso to create, but he also facilitated his son’s admission to the art schools where he taught. Picasso once said, ‘Every time I draw a man, involuntarily I think of my father. For me, man is “Don José,” and that will be true all my life. He wore a beard. All the men I draw have more or less his features.’

Don’t know about you, but looking at the portrait, can you not feel how Picasso felt about his father, and the sentiments that his father had for his whizzkid son?

NARRATOR:

Titled José Ruiz Blasco, Father of the Artist, this is an oil painting that Pablo Picasso made in 1895. It is fifty-two centimetres tall and thirty-two centimetres wide.

Picasso used a deep brownish-yellow palette and delicate brushwork to portray his father in profile from the chest up. The middle-aged José Ruiz y Blasco is slightly hunched over and occupies three quarters of the canvas as he stares solemnly towards the right edge of the painting. He has a tall, straight nose, deep-set eyes, bushy brows, defined contours, and slightly sunken cheeks.

His blondish-brown hair is short, slightly wavy, and swept back neatly at the front. A short beard covers his upper lip, chin, and jawline. His moustache appears thicker and wirier than the rest of the beard, which is shorter and closer to the face. He wears a thick jacket that is grey with hints of brown and green, with an overturned collar. His neck is thick, and the collar of his white shirt peeks over his Adam’s apple.

The light comes from the left and highlights his temple, upper cheekbone, the back of his neck, and his right shoulder, while the front of his jacket remains in shadow. The background is a blend of grey and yellow hues, complementing the subject’s brownish-yellow palette.

You can see Picasso’s signature in the top right corner of the canvas.