Museum uncovers hidden dog in century-old Picasso painting
May 15, 2023 | In the PressFrom CTVnews.ca (https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/museum-uncovers-hidden-dog-in-century-old-picasso-painting-1.6399226)
Kept secret for more than a century, researchers have uncovered a hidden pooch in an early painting from one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
Researchers have discovered that a dark brown mass at the bottom of Pablo Picasso's 1900 painting "Le Moulin de la Galette" is in fact a small dog that the artist later tried to conceal.
"My goodness, that was surprising for me at least," said Megan Fontanella, modern art curator at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, where the painting has been on display for decades.
"It completely changes how one would have encountered this picture. You would have seen this really quite adorable dog in the foreground, looking almost directly at the visitor with this wonderful red bow."
The piece depicts a Parisian dance hall where people are seen dancing, donning top hats and wearing red lipstick.
Using a process called x-ray fluorescence imaging spectroscopy, researchers were able to uncover the dog, believed to be a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, which was a popular breed at the time.
"As a conservator looking at this area where you can see other colours peeking through and you can see texture that doesn't relate to the final composition, I had a very strong feeling that there was something under there," said Julie Barten, senior painting conservator at the Guggenheim.
Picasso was 19 when he painted the piece and it's unknown why he chose to paint over the dog.
"But what's interesting is that he, in obscuring it, it was just a few hasty brush strokes and so he did kind of leave a ghostly presence of the dog there," Barten said.
