The Frugal Meal (September 1904, printed 1913) — Pablo Picasso | Picasso: 500 Masterpieces
Gallery/#421The Frugal Meal
The Frugal Meal
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Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio open-access image route

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Blue Period#421 of 500

The Frugal Meal

Pablo Picasso, September 1904, printed 1913

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Technical Details

Medium

etching

Dimensions

Image: 45.5 x 37 cm (17 15/16 x 14 9/16 in.); Plate: 46.3 x 37.6 cm (18 1/4 x 14 13/16 in.); Sheet: 63 x 49.8 cm (24 13/16 x 19 5/8 in.)

Style

Blue Period figuration

Decade

1900s

About This Work

The official Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio record identifies The Frugal Meal as a Pablo Picasso artwork, dated September 1904, printed 1913, in etching. In this early print, Pablo Picasso depicted a couple—possibly two performers—sitting before a meager meal. Although the woman gazes forward directly, her male companion's unfocused stare suggests his blindness. This subject was one that Picasso explored during his Blue Period (1901–4), a stage of his career when he used a predominantly cool palette to depict figures marginalized by society.

The Frugal Meal is grouped here under Blue Period for gallery navigation based on the date published by Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. This period label is interpretive context, not a replacement for the cited primary object record. The holding collection is documented by the cited institutional source.

Current Location

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Public Collection — Open to visitors

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Valuation & Provenance

2026 Estimated Value

Public collection / market value not asserted

* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.

Last Known Sale

No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection

Keywords

ArtworkBlue PeriodBlue Period figurationCleveland Museum of Art

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