Artwork Information

When in Spain Picasso drew inspiration from its harsh light, cubic architecture and passionate and often violent customs. His work was often based on contrasting forms or ideas. Here the young and handsome man on the right is depicted with only a few lines, so that the figure seems bathed with light, his gesture reminiscent of Christ's benediction. The older man on the left is made up of calligraphic arabesques layered in part to make an inky blackness, the drawn whorls on his hands suggesting the gnarled texture of old age.