In Paris and BarcelonaPicassowas desperately poor. He often went hungry and the frequent appearance of food and drink in his early work is revealing as a mirror of the vicissitudes of his own life. Over and over again he painted men and women seated at a table. Food, if any, is a bowl of gruel of a crust of bread; drink, a bottle of wine or a glass of absinthe.

The composition of the Blind Man’s Meal is characteristic – a single figure against a simple background fills the picture. The repast is frugal but furnishesPicassowith the materials for a still life.