Motherhood

Pablo Picasso, 1901

Technical Details

About This Work

A mother cradles her infant child, both figures rendered in the cool blue-green tones of the early Blue Period. The mother's face is bowed over the child, her expression one of tender absorption. The work shows the influence of El Greco in its elongated figures and spiritual intensity, while the subject — the Madonna and Child translated into a secular, contemporary context — gives it a timeless quality.

Motherhood is one of the earliest works of the Blue Period, painted in the months following the suicide of Casagemas. The theme of mother and child — a secular Madonna — recurs throughout Picasso's Blue Period work, perhaps reflecting his own sense of loss and his longing for comfort.

Current Location

Valuation & Provenance

Personal Photo — Museo Picasso Málaga

Photographed in person at the Museo Picasso in Málaga, Spain.

Maternity (Maternité)

Keywords