Old Man and Youth

Pablo Picasso

1906 · Charcoal on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

This drawing, like many others made at the beginning of Picasso's stay at Gósol, a small village in the Spanish Pyrenees, did not result in a canvas. However, the idea of male nudity was carried through in other paintings, and this sheet suggests that Picasso was considering a work that would contrast the Ages of Man. The anonymous adolescent reappears frequently in work made at Gósol, while the elder figure bears the features of Josep Fondevila, Picasso's aged and patient innkeeper. Although several drawings show Fondevila nude, it is not known whether Fondevila posed for them or simply inspired them.

Artist

Pablo Picasso

Date

1906

Medium

Charcoal on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982