''Old Jewish Man with a Boy'' or ''Blind Beggar with a Boy'' is an oil on canvas painting by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

, from 1903. It was made in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and characteristic of his Blue Period. Picasso later moved to Paris, where he sold the work to

Sergei Shchukin Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin (; 10 January 1936) was a Russian businessman who became an art collector, mainly of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Early life and family Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin was born on in Moscow, one of ten c ...

, whose collection was seized by the Soviet state after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, which assigned it to its present home in the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Description

On a dark blue background, two beggars are depicted, an old man and a boy, who embody the two most helpless, unprotected ages - childhood and old age. Picasso depicts an emaciated blind old man. The boy clinging to him also seems to be blind, his eyes are also motionless and dead. Both the old man and the boy are dressed in rags, and are wrapped in an old blanket. Under the torn trousers, the beggar's legs, emaciated to the limit, are visible. His unkempt beard, hair tied with an old handkerchief, and sunken cheeks, all testify to their poverty and long-term malnutrition. The boy eats an apple, probably the only alms he had at the day. The clear lines of the painting resemble a sculptural image, and its emphasized by the lack of detail. On a blue background, only the faces of the two persons and the legs of the old man stand out. Not a single extra detail distracts from this expressive group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Jewish Man with a Boy 1903 paintings Paintings by Pablo Picasso Paintings in the Pushkin Museum Poverty in painting Oil on canvas paintings Paintings of children Paintings of men