Picasso Blue Period: Themes and Masterpieces

The Blue Period (1901–1904) marks a radical ethical modernism: elongated figures, austere settings, and a spectrum of cobalt to Prussian blues. Picasso’s empathy extends to the poor, the sick, and the incarcerated.

🎨 Formal Language

• Palette: Blue with sparse earths and whites.
• Figures: Elongated, sculptural, and introverted.
• Spaces: Minimal, planar, almost liturgical.

🔍 Motifs

• Maternity, Blindness, Poverty
• Café and Street Life reframed as quiet existential stages
• Ascetic Self‑portraiture

Quick Facts

A Note on Viewing

In the museum, cool lighting and clean sightlines avoid spectacle, sustaining the works’ ethical register.

$$ \text{Blue Luminance Index} = 0.11,R + 0.59,G + 0.30,B $$