La Vie

The Blue Period refers to Pablo Picasso's corpus of work between 1901 and 1904. This period's paintings are primarily monochromatic in tones of blue and blue-green. Picasso's dear friend, Carlos Casagemas, committed suicide, which contributed to the Blue Period's often sorrowful subject matter. Casagemas was an art student and poet who committed suicide because he was in love with an artist's model named Germaine Pichot.

La Vie, along with The Old Guitarist, is considered the apex of Picasso's Blue Period. A naked couple confronts a mother holding a child in her arms in the painting. The painting's masculine figure is a portrait of Carlos Casagemas, who Picasso painted in multiple posthumous portraits.

There are also two paintings within the artwork. The upper image depicts a nude pair hugging, while the lower image depicts a lone nude person. The other pair may be seen in the room's background, which appears to be a studio. Sorrow by Vincent Van Gogh is claimed to have influenced the latter.

Picasso repainted another motif of a birdman assaulting a naked woman, but only traces of it may be seen with the naked eye.

English Title: Life
Year: 1903