‘ Newsprint hidden in Picasso’s artwork’

Washington: Scientists have peered into the thick layers of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso’s famous Blue Period painting, unveiling a page from a 1902 French newspaper and traces of another artwork.

Researchers from National Gallery of Art in the US conducted hyperspectral infrared imaging of Picasso’s Mother and Child by the Sea - a painting in the collection of the Pola Museum of Art in Japan.

The analysis revealed portions of printed text in French similar to newsprint. Using the readable text, Keiko Imai, chief curator, Pola Museum of Art, was able to identify the source of the text as an issue of the French daily newspaper

Le Journal published on January 18, 1902.

While the reason for the presence of newsprint in the paint layers is a mystery, the discovery is significant for Picasso scholars due to the proximity of the date to the artist’s move from Paris to Barcelona.

The study also provided more information about a prior paint composition seen in the X- radiograph.

The infrared images also show another earlier signature by the artist in the opposite orientation.

“I was surprised and fascinated by this finding in a painting I have always admired at our museum. We were able to officially confirm that Mother and Child by the Seawas painted after the date of the newspaper article used on the canvas,” said Imai.