This undated handout image provided by The Phillips Collection shows Picasso's "The Blue Room," painted in 1901. Scientists and art experts have found a hidden painting beneath it. Photo: AP Photo/The Phillips Collection
Something's Up With The Brushstrokes

"When he had an idea, you know, he just had to get it down and realize it," Phillips curator Susan Behrends Frank told the AP, describing how Picasso had hurriedly painted "The Blue Room" over another complete picture." He could not afford to acquire new canvases every time he had an idea that he wanted to pursue. He worked sometimes on cardboard because canvas was so much more expensive."

###### Brushstrokes on the piece clearly don't match the composition that depicts a woman bathing in Picasso's studio.

A conservator noted the odd brushstrokes in a 1954 letter, but it wasn't until the 1990s that an X-ray of the painting first revealed a fuzzy image of something under the picture. It wasn't clear, though, that it was a portrait.

###### He's dressed in a jacket and bow tie, painted in a vertical composition.

"It's really one of those moments that really makes what you do special," said Patricia Favero. Favero is the conservator at The Phillips Collection who pieced together the best infrared image yet of the man's face.

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Identity Of The Mystery Man

Scholars have ruled out the possibility that it was a self-portrait. One possible figure is the Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who hosted Picasso's first show in 1901. But there's no documentation and there are no clues left on the canvas, so the research continues.

###### A technical study confirmed the hidden portrait is a work the Spanish artist likely painted just before "The Blue Room," curators said.

Since the portrait was discovered, conservators have been using other technology to scan the painting for further clues. Favero has been collaborating with other experts to scan the painting with imaging technology and X-ray mapping to try to identify and map the colors of the hidden painting. ######]]>