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13 Picasso’s Striped Sailor Shirt

It was in the decades following the Second World War—marked by the rise of press photography and the advent of television—that Picasso’s media image truly crystallised. Thus, in the collective imaginary, the stereotypical image of Picasso took hold: a balding man with white hair, clad in a striped sailor shirt. The series of portraits taken by photographer Robert Doisneau played a decisive role in shaping this image. In 1952, Doisneau visited the artist at his home in Vallauris, a small town near Cannes. At ease before the camera, Picasso playfully engaged with his surroundings—for example, placing little bread rolls which he placed like hands on the table in front of him.
The garment, through its history, reinforced the archetypal image of the artist as both bohemian and industrious. He consistently chose work clothes in photographic portraits and self-portraits: from the blue overalls of his Cubist period to the now-iconic striped sailor shirt of the 1950s and 1960s.