La Vie

In 1901, Picasso lost a close friend due to suicide. The artist launched into what famously became known as the Blue Period. Being only 20 years old and desperately poor, he restricted his paintings to cold colors and themes of human misery. This subject has been interpreted as an allegory of sacred and profane love, a symbolic representation of the cycle of life, and a working-class couple facing the hazards of real life.