Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto [SEP] creator
Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto
Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (also known as The Absinthe Drinker) () is a portrait by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso completed in 1903 during his Blue Period. The oil painting depicts Picasso's friend and fellow painter, Angel Fernandez de Soto, in a bar with a glass of absinthe. The painting was previously owned by musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. On 23 June 2010, the painting was sold at auction for £34.7 million.
Background.
"Portrait of
Angel Fernández de Soto" is a study of a young Spanish artist sitting in a bar, shrouded in tobacco smoke from a pipe, with a glass of absinthe in front of him. The young man, Fernández de Soto, was Picasso's friend and was usually referred to as an "amusing wastrel", as he enjoyed drinking and partying. Picasso met Fernández de Soto in 1899 and they twice shared studios in Barcelona. The portrait gives an insight into the life of Picasso and his circle of friends, and Picasso