Picasso’s Blue Period From A Conservator’s Perspective

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Associate Conservator Patricia Favero presenting at Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

Last week, Associate Conservator Patricia Favero headed to Museu Picasso in Barcelona along with colleagues from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago to present findings at The Blue Period: New Interpretations by Means of Technical Studies, a seminar of restoration and conservation. You may recall news from last June that a portrait of a man was discovered under the Phillips’s painting by Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room; Patti discussed the research and process behind this revelation.

UPDATE: For a limited amount of time, you can watch the full presentation video on the Museu Picasso’s website.

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Associate Conservator Patricia Favero presenting at Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

 

Behind the Blue: The Outliers

After discovering a hidden painting underneath the Phillips’s The Blue Room (1901) by Pablo Picasso, conservators and curators are still researching the identity of the person in the portrait. You’ve been calling, e-mailing, tweeting, and posting your ideas about who the mystery man might be. We’re sharing information on the most popular suggestions here on the blog. Today, we focus on some of the most fun, though perhaps unlikely, suggestions.

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Images left to right: (Top) James Lipton; Georges Braque; Louis CK (Middle) Lady Gaga; Infrared of Pablo Picasso’s The Blue Room (1901). The Phillips Collection, copyright 2008; Vincent van Gogh (Bottom) Paul Cézanne; Paul Gauguin; Luciano Pavarotti

While the suggestion may not have been a serious one, we can’t help seeing the striking resemblance between James Lipton (top left) and the portrait found behind Picasso’s The Blue Room (center) after one of our Facebook fans suggested it to us. Same goes for Louis CK; Lady Gaga, however, is a bit more of a stretch even in jest. Above are some of our favorite suggestions thus far, comedic or otherwise.

Send us your idea of who the mystery man may be with #BlueRoom or in the comments below.