畢加索名作畫中有畫

A hidden painting has been found by scientists beneath the brush strokes of The Blue Room, a 1901 Picasso artwork.

Art experts and conservators at The Phillips Collection in Washington used infrared technology on the masterpiece, revealing a bow-tied man with his face resting on his hand.

Picasso created both works in Paris during his famous blue period.

"It's really one of those moments that really makes what you do special," said conservator Patricia Favero.

Acknowledged as one of the 20th Century's greatest artists, Pablo Picasso focused on monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green during his blue period from 1900 to 1904.

The Blue Room has been the subject of exploration since 2008 by experts from the Phillips Collection, National Gallery of Art, Cornell University and Delaware's Winterthur Museum.

Improved infrared imagery allowed them to see a man wearing a jacket and bow tie, resting his bearded face on his hand with three rings on his fingers.

When the image was turned on its side, it revealed a portrait of a man.

Technical analysis confirmed the hidden portrait was likely to have been painted just before The Blue Room.

Favero added that, having found the second image back in 2008, they then wanted to know who the man was.

"We're still working on answering that question," she said.

Curator Susan Behrends Frank told press agency AP: "When he [Picasso] had an idea, you know, he just had to get it down and realise it," explaining that the artist had quickly painted over another completed picture when the inspiration took him.

"He could not afford to acquire new canvasses every time he had an idea that he wanted to pursue. He worked sometimes on cardboard because canvas was so much more expensive.''

The Blue Room has been part of the Phillips Collection since 1927.

Conservators suspected back in 1954 it may have had another painting below its surface, as brushstrokes did not match the composition of a woman bathing in Picasso's studio.

But it was not until the 1990s that an X-ray revealed a "fuzzy image" of something under the main image.

Research on The Blue Room will continue and curators have planned a 2017 exhibition focusing on the painting and the portrait beneath it. It is also part of a tour to South Korea in 2015.

This is not the first time a hidden image has been found beneath a Picasso artwork.

A technical analysis of La Vie at the Cleveland Museum of Art revealed he had reworked the painting's composition, while a moustached man was found beneath the painting Woman Ironing at Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum.據英國廣播公司（BBC）網站6月17日報道，人們在畢加索1901年畫作《藍色房間》下發現一隱藏畫作。

華盛頓菲利普收藏館的藝術專家和管理員用紅外線技術掃描這幅傑作，發現了一位打着領結、託着腮的男人。

這兩幅畫是畢加索在“藍色時期”在巴黎創作的。

“發現這個‘畫中畫’真是一個激動人心的時刻，”管理員Patricia Favero說。

作爲20世紀最傑出的的藝術家之一，在1900年至1904年的“藍色時期”裏，畢加索側重於應用藍色或藍綠色陰影創作單色畫作。

來自菲利普斯收藏館、國家美術館、康奈爾大學和特拉華州溫特圖爾博物館的專家們從2008年開始研究《藍色房間》。

改良的紅外線成像讓他們看到一個繫着領結、手戴三個戒指，並且把留着鬍鬚的臉枕在胳膊上的男人。

把畫作順時針轉九十度垂直觀看時，一名蓄鬍子的男子赫然出現。

技術分析證實，被隱藏起來的肖像很可能創作於《藍色房間》之前。

Favero還表示，從2008年發現背面圖像起，他們一直想知道那個男人是誰。

“我們仍然致力於解決這個問題，”她說。

館長Susan Behrends Frank告訴美國聯合通訊社：“一旦他（畢加索）有了靈感，他必須抓住它並且描繪出來，”意思是當靈感迸發時，藝術家們會在另一幅已完成的畫作背面作畫。

“他不能在每次靈感到來時都能找到新畫布繼續作畫。有時他會畫在卡紙上，卡紙比帆布便宜多了。”

《藍色房間》從1927年就被菲利普收藏館收藏了。

早在1954年，管理員就懷疑這幅畫的背面還有一幅畫，因爲畫上的筆劃與一個女人在畢加索畫室裏沐浴的構圖不符。

直到20世紀90年代，X射線才揭示了主要圖像背後的“模糊圖像”。

對《藍色房間》的研究會繼續。該館長計劃在2017爲這幅畫和畫背後的肖像舉辦一場展覽。這也是2015年韓國之旅的計劃。

這不是第一次發現畢加索的畫中畫。

克利夫蘭藝術博物館的一位La Vie技術分析員透露，他曾對曼哈頓的古根海姆博物館的《熨衣服的女子》進行重新加工，發現了隱藏畫作裏的小鬍子男人。