(Left) Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room, 1901, Oil on canvas 19 7/8 x 24 1/4 in.; 50.4825 x 61.595 cm. Acquired 1927. (Right) Infrared of Pablo Picasso’s The Blue Room (1901). The Phillips Collection, copyright 2008.
Perhaps you’ve heard our big news of the day: thanks to the skillful work and research of Patricia Favero and colleagues at fellow institutions, a portrait of a man has been identified under Picasso’s The Blue Room (1901) through the use of imaging technology. We’re really proud of Patti’s discovery!
This is not the first time one of our excellent conservators has made a newsworthy discovery. Just one example is chief conservator Elizabeth Steele’s and then-intern Gillian Cook’s finding of an entirely complete canvas beneath Gifford Beal’s painting, Parade of Elephants (1924) back in 1999. The uncovered work, On the Hudson at Newburg (1918), has gone on to become a most beloved part of our collection.
Two paintings by Gifford Beal that, at one time, shared a stretcher. (Left) On the Hudson at Newburgh, 1918, Oil on canvas 36 x 58 1/2 in.; 91.44 x 148.59 cm.. Estate of Gifford Beal, courtesy of Kraushaar Galleries. (Right) Parade of Elephants, 1924, Oil on canvas 36 1/8 x 58 5/8 in.; 91.7575 x 148.9075 cm.. Acquired 1924.
Is the man beneath “The Blue Room” Charles Ephrussi? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ephrussi
My immediate and first reaction on seeing the “below” painting of the man holding his head was that it was of a young Gauguin.
He looks Russian to me.
Maybe we can crowd source his identity!
Charles Ephrussi was Russian! Living in Paris at the time of his death in 1905.
Also I wonder if the rings on his hands would give any clues.
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Has anyone discussed the cow behind him in the X Ray ?
Or is it a bull ?
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My first thought when I saw it; it`s a portrait of Vincent van Gogh. Looks like him.
Another contender to the identity is the painter Oriol Marti whom Picasso had painted in 1899. There is a black and white photograph of some Catalan artists and authors in this link
http://elspotolsmistics.blogspot.fr/2012/12/els-redactors-de-joventut-una-excursio.html
if the bow tie is a clue, then there is a strong resemblance between the hidden man and the look of Oriol Marti.
There is a very strong likeness to Marti.
It’s Cezanne!
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I know who it is !!
It’s not a Picasso work — it’s Gabriele Munter! Pablo was pulling a Kandinsky!
Just read the CNN story, accompanying the video news story and the print one says this about founder Duncan Phillips: “Duncan Phillips, the Pittsburgh businessman and Civil War veteran who founded the museum…” Founder Duncan wasn’t in the Civil War — his father, Duncan, was. Good copyediting there CNN.
Thank you for catching this Rolf!
It is Pere Romeu, he was the proprietor of “Els Quatre Gats” in Barcelona! Picasso would frequent this Tavern when he was 17 and not only did Picasso have his first show there but he was also the artist of the menu cover, which is a portrait of Pere and the same mystery man you see here…Voila!
A good lead! If the portrait is of a Spanish man, then another Catalan painter Sebastià Junyent Sans whom Picasso painted several times, especially in 1903 during the blue period is a serious possibility. The Picasso museum in Barcelona has a black and white photograph of him
http://www.blogmuseupicassobcn.org/category/historical-curiosity/?lang=en&lang=en
The morphology is quite close.
Is he someone that personally knows the female model? Is he watching the model and painter at work? Who is the female model? I don’t think the “beneath” is a Picasso.