Group of poor people 1903

Picasso made this small painting, titled 'Group of Poor People', with ink on paper. The way he’s worked the ink has a real urgency about it, like he was trying to get something down really fast, before it disappeared. Look at how the ink bleeds and pools, creating depth. See how he uses vertical strokes to suggest bodies and limbs, but they also feel like bars, trapping the figures. The limited palette—just black ink on a brownish ground—heightens the emotional intensity and speaks to the somber mood. The figures are barely there, like ghosts. And there, near the bottom, what is that little dog doing? Picasso did a lot of very different things over his long career, but these early blue period works feel like they come from a different place, a raw, searching, and soulful part of himself.