New Picasso Discovered

Conservators at Barcelona’s Picasso Museum made a startling discovery when cleaning an early Picasso print.

 

During restoration on “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother” (1896), conservators removed cardboard beneath the artwork to discover a charcoal drawing of a man with a pipe. Given that “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother” was printed when Picasso was 15, to find an even earlier, virtuosic drawing beneath it was a startling revelation. 

 

Reyes Jiménez, head of restoration at the Picasso Museum, stated her belief that the newly discovered charcoal is the earlier work: “If it were the other way round, he would have destroyed the pastel drawing at the time of producing it.”

 

The drawing displays careful modeling and uses white chalk for highlights, demonstrating that Picasso possessed great skill and advanced technique at a very young age. 

 

For the original story, see http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2013/02/26/restorers-discover-new-picasso-piece-hidden-on-cardboard/.

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