From 1901 through early 1904, Picasso used the color blue almost exclusively in many of his paintings. Because of this, critics refer to this period of time as Picasso's Blue period. Even though Picasso still used blue tones here, you'll notice that he also used several other colors, including subtle greens and hints of rose. What other colors do you see in this painting?

Because Picasso uses a more complex assortment of colors here, this painting is considered a transitional work -- showing the direction in which Picasso was moving artistically. It bridges between the time when Picasso created works such as Tragedy (his Blue Period) and the time when Family of Saltimbanques was painted (his Rose Period).