The Artist's Father

Picasso’s father, José Ruiz Blasco, was a painter and taught at the provincial Fine Arts schools of Malaga (from 1875 to 1890), Corunna (from 1891 to 1895) and Barcelona (Escola de Llotja, from 1895 to 1913). Between the years 1879 and 1890 he also occupied the position of conservator and restorer at the Museo Municipal de Málaga. During Picasso’s years of academic training his father was an important model for the young artist, and frequently sat for his drawings and paintings. Many of these portraits, executed in a range of techniques including watercolour, drawing and oils, are kept in the museum collection.
In this watercolour dated 1896 José Ruiz is portrayed three-quarter length, almost as if it were an exercise designed to depict the face from several different angles. This is not, however, a superficial study. On the contrary, it explores the psychology of the character in depth. The side lighting shows him immersed in the duality of chiaroscuro, emphasising the expressiveness of the visible part of the face and the gaze. By means of short and swift brushstrokes, firm lines and the composition of the patch of colour, Picasso managed to capture the melancholy expression of his father the moment he sat for the picture.
As regards the application of colour, the artist used a wide tonal range of ruby reds, saturated in certain areas and diluted or with spots in others. The paper support was used for the white (a typical resource in this technique) in order to create the effects of brightness, the volumes of the features and the contrast that enhances the figure. The watercolour preserves its transparency and the immediacy of the moment the portrait was made.
All the characteristic traits of the personality appear in this picture, which can be compared with the other portraits Picasso made of his father during this period, such as the one showing his profile in blue or the one in which he is seen from the front leaning on one of his arms, both of them watercolours, and other oil paintings and drawings in pencil and in ink.
In his Conversations with Picasso (1964) Brassaï reproduced the artist’s words of 1943: «Every time I draw a man, involuntarily I think of my father. For me, man is “Don José,” and that will be true all my life. He wore a beard. All the men I draw have more or less his features.»