Le repas frugal Possibly 1904 - 1913

"Le repas frugal," or "The Frugal Meal," was etched by Pablo Picasso in 1904, using a metal plate to create this print. Look closely, and you'll see the web of tiny etched lines that define the figures. The stark, spare quality of the etching perfectly captures the destitution of the figures depicted. The process of etching itself has a certain austerity; it's about paring back, revealing form through absence. The lines almost seem to have been scratched into the plate, mirroring the struggles etched into the bodies of these figures, evoking empathy. In "Le repas frugal," Picasso elevates the lives of ordinary people through this skilled printmaking, inviting us to reflect on the dignity of labor, and the social conditions that shape our world.