He Was Only Five-Foot-Three; Girls Could Not Resist His Stare

March 27, 2007 12:26 AM

A Hidden Picasso:Will Shank always suspected something was buried beneath Picasso's Scène de Rue, a somber street scene painted by Picasso in the fall of 1900 during his first stay in Paris. X-rays revealed a second painting: a nightclub scene which appeared to be the prototype for Picasso's Le Moulin de la Galette, a 1900 painting thought to be the first Picasso made in Paris. Technicians extracted the colors visible through the cracks in the surface of Scène de Rue and transferred them onto a black-and-white radiograph.
posted by fandango_matt (17 comments total)

The website is down :-( And I really wanted to see that.
posted by kisch mokusch at 12:59 AM on March 27, 2007

This looks neat. Too bad I can't connect to their sever. Dead link already?
posted by thecjm at 12:59 AM on March 27, 2007

SFGate story.
posted by fandango_matt at 1:01 AM on March 27, 2007

Okay, just saw the video on the second link. That's pretty cool. The amount of detail the radiograph manages to get our is very impressive.

As for the picture itself, I'm sure his second Le Moulin de la Galette is better. I mean, he painted over it for a reason, right?
posted by kisch mokusch at 1:08 AM on March 27, 2007

I love stuff like this.

It's incredible to think how quickly Picasso moved from churning out Lautrec-lite like the hidden painting to work like "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon."
posted by fire&wings at 2:27 AM on March 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fascinating, but I think Picasso wouldn't be pleased.
posted by Phanx at 2:47 AM on March 27, 2007

very interesting.
posted by the cuban at 4:59 AM on March 27, 2007

Fascinating!
posted by flippant at 5:15 AM on March 27, 2007

Excellent.
The find is not very significant, but the presentation with the context of what Picasso was doing at the time is great.
Thanks, fandango_matt.
posted by bru at 5:35 AM on March 27, 2007

Most artists I know, especially the prolific ones, are more interested in what they are currently working on / discovering than in their past work. A lot of old work gets painted over, thrown out, abandoned, given away... Sometimes an available surface is more important than an older painting.

As one of my painting teachers used to say... "It takes two people to make my paintings.... "Me to paint them, and someone else to take them away before I ruin them."
posted by R. Mutt at 5:43 AM on March 27, 2007

That's pretty cool. Neither painting is a masterpiece, but it's cool to see that.
posted by OmieWise at 6:27 AM on March 27, 2007

I consider Scène de Rue quite powerful. The underlying image appears just to be a study image - more of a student musing. I don't consider it any loss, just because you're an artist, not everything created is perfection.

Agreed with R. Mutt, for painters, repainting over 'failed' images is very common. Canvas is just too expensive. A quick change of angle to allow catching of the light, and you're likely to see the most interesting underpaintings, sketches or completely different images under a painting.
posted by eatdonuts at 7:09 AM on March 27, 2007

The girls would turn the color of a juicy avocado
when went driving in his El Dorado
...Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole.
posted by eustacescrubb at 7:48 AM on March 27, 2007

So, does the owner now own two Picassos?
posted by nax at 8:57 AM on March 27, 2007

A rare example of all the interwebby bells and whistles having an actual purpose.
Cool find! Thanks!
posted by Dizzy at 9:53 AM on March 27, 2007

Picasso was known for doing this. He would start with a canvas and paint and paint and paint with the final product rarely reflecting the initial work.

The actual works are described as being quite heavy with paint. (I wouldn't know because I have never been able to get close enough).

You can find a good deal written about his method and how it contrasted with that of his friend/rival Henri Matisse.
posted by Lola_G at 10:02 AM on March 27, 2007

excellent.


Friday, February 23, 2007 - Tuesday, July 31, 2007

reservations at The W stat
posted by Jikido at 7:18 PM on March 28, 2007