Honors College Art & Science of Emotions Fall 2017 (12:00 p.m.) Sadness Journal | Page 8

casso is a making a commentary of society during the time period in which he painted
this picture. In general, he is making a comment on human suffering and poverty. Dur-
ing this time period, when he was facing depression and sadness, the community of
Spain was facing unfortunate circumstances as well. During The Blue Period, Picasso
would travel between Barcelona and Paris often. In Paris, he would visit the Women’s
Prison of Saint-Lazare where his inspiration from his paintings came from. In his other
works, he would depict street people in Barcelona such as blind or lonely beggars as he
did in “The Blind Man’s Meal”. Picasso may have painted these situations to make soci-
ety more aware of the hardships that people are facing every day. As mentioned, peo-
ple seem to block these things out of their life as it may make them sad because our
culture has told us “if you are not happy, there is something wrong with you.” The com-
mentary that Picasso portrayed in “The Blind Man’s Meal” applies to society today. We
live in a society where social status plays a key role. If you don’t have an expensive car
or the newest iPhone, you are automatically seen as lower in status. In the end, this
may lead to sadness for the people of a lower class. Picasso specifically depicts pov-
erty in “The Blind Man’s Meal.” This is an issue all around the world, and doesn’t seem
to be improving in some places. When Picasso brought this to the attention of the oth-
ers, people may be more aware and act upon it.
Overall, Picasso’s “The Blind Man’s Meal” is a perfect representation of
sadness. The viewer will feel the sorrow and sadness that Pablo was feeling after the
death of his friend. He makes social comments related to human suffering and poverty
to bring attention to these issues. Even today these issues are still present in our socie-
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