Picasso's Blue Period was done in hot, bright hues. The painting considered the first of his Blue Period, "Casagemas in His Coffin", was completed later in 1901 when Picasso was sinking into a major depression. Picasso, normally an outgoing socializer, withdrew from his friends. Picasso's bout of depression was to last several years. Picasso's career had been promising before 1901 and early in that year he was making "a splash" in Paris. However, as he moved towards subject matter such as society's poor and outcast, and accented this with a cool, anguished mood with blue hues, the critics and the public turned away
Oskar Hoffmann (painter) Oskar Hoffmann (painter) Oskar Georg Adolf Hoffmann (Russian: Оскар Адольфович Гофман; 5 February 1851, Dorpat – 3 March 1912, Saint Petersburg) was a Baltic-German painter from Estonia. He was best known for his landscapes and colorful depictions of Estonian peasants. His father was a master baker and his mother's family was involved in the performing arts. For a few years, he worked in a lithography and photography studio, which is where he first displayed his aptitude for painting. Many of his later works appear to be based on photographs taken during this period, especially the watercolor portraits. He soon began