XRAY REVEALS HIDDEN LANDSCAPE UNDER PICASSO PAINTING
Scientists have uncovered details of a landscape hidden underneath the visible surface of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso’s painting that depicts a crouching and cloaked woman. The 1902 oil painting, La Miséreuse Accroupie (The Crouching Woman), is a major work from Picasso’s Blue Period.
Researchers from the Northwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts (NU-ACCESS) and the National Gallery of Art in the US used non-invasive portable imaging techniques to detail buried images in works by Picasso.
Researchers found that Picasso painted over another painter’s work after rotating it 90 degrees to the right, using some of the landscape forms in his own final composition of La Miséreuse accroupie. Picasso incorporated the lines of the cliff edges into the woman’s back, for example.
By closely observing La Miséreuse accroupie, researchers noted distinct textures and contrasting underlying colour. Picasso had no qualms about changing things during the painting process, said Marc Walton, a research professor at the University. “Our team has begun to uncover changes made by Picasso as he worked toward his final vision,” said Walton. This helped them develop a chronology about the artist’s developing style and possible influences.
RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND A HORIZONTAL LANDSCAPE BY A DIFFERENT PAINTER UNDER PICASSO’S OIL PAINTING, LA MISÉREUSE ACCROUPIE