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Artwork Page for La Vie

Details / Information for La Vie

La Vie

1903
(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain
oil on canvas
Framed: 239 x 170 x 10 cm (94 1/8 x 66 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 196.5 x 129.2 cm (77 3/8 x 50 7/8 in.)
Gift of the Hanna Fund 1945.24
© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Zervos I.179; Sutton/Lecaldano 89; Daix, Boudaille, Rosselet IX.13; Palau i Fabre: 882; PP 1903-071
Location: not on view
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Did You Know?

Picasso began drawing as a child and studying at an art school at age eleven. He later remarked that "art is a lie that makes us realize the truth."

Description

In 1901, depressed over the suicide of his close friend, poet and painter Carles Casagemas, Picasso launched into the melancholic paintings of his Blue Period (1901–4). Only 21 years old and struggling to support himself, he restricted his palette to cool colors suggestive of night, mystery, dreams, and death. His interest in themes of human misery and social alienation reached its climax with this painting. The subject has been interpreted variously as a symbolic representation of sacred and profane love or the cycle of life, or a realistic portrayal of a working-class couple facing the hazards of real life.

La Vie

1903

Pablo Picasso

(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain

See Also

  • Collection
    Modern Euro Painting
  • Department
    Modern European Painting and Sculpture
  • Medium
    Oil on canvas

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      Picasso and the Mysteries of Life: La Vie
      By William H. Robinson Few artistic moments are as instantly recognizable as Pablo Picasso's Blue Period, and from it the painting, La Vie (Life) has emerged as the culminating masterpiece. This book not only examines La Vie's history and physical structure in unprecedented detail but also uses the painting as the touchstone for exploring a broad array of issues vital to modernist culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. New contextual analysis is provided for understanding the paintings enigmatic subject, along with its relationship to the art of Picasso and his contemporaries. 164 pages Published 2012
      Picasso and the Mysteries of Life: La Vie
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      Pablo Picasso Le Reve Recycled Bag
      Simplified forms. Lush colours. Dancing patterns. Dream lover on the recyled tote bag. Pablo Picasso turned some of these canvases out in as little as five hours. Associated most of all with pioneering Cubism, he also invented collage and made major contributions to Symbolism and Surrealism. PABLO PICASSO Le rêve, 1932. Private Collection © Succession Picasso, Paris, 2022 We thought you'd never ask! I weigh 56 g (1.98 oz).I can carry 20 kg (44 lbs).My size is 50 x 42 cm (19.7" x 16.5").My zip pocket is 11 .5 x 11.5 cm (4.5" x 4.5").My handle is 27 cm (10.6"). I'm made of 100% recycled taffeta by GREEN CIRCLE® certified.I'm STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified.I'm water resistant.I'm made using waterless printing.
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