What prompted Pablo Picasso's famous Blue Period?

The key reason which prompted Pablo Picasso's Blue Period (1901 - 1904) is the following. Picasso was somewhat influenced by a journey through Spain and mainly by the suicide of his friend (Carlos Casagemas). Carlos took his life at the L’Hippodrome Café in Paris, France by shooting himself in the right temple in February 1901. Picasso himself later recalled, "I started painting in blue when I learned of Casagemas's death".

Many critics and friends pointed out that Picasso's Blue Period was a significant moment of transition for him as an artist and man. This was a period where a series of paintings in shades of blue dominate every piece. Experts have and continue to note that while the paintings may seem bleak and sentimental, in all actuality, they are deeply poetic expressions of poverty, fragility, severe depression, and vulnerability.

The paintings in the Blue Period series are somber; the subjects are truly the poor and broken outcasts of society. Taking into consideration all of the various phases of Picasso's evolution as an artist, art experts have argued that no other period but the Blue Period in Pablo Picasso's long and fascinating career contains as much emotional weight and human complexity. These painting make people feel or talk to each other! At first, they didn't sell. In 2015 a Blue Period Picasso "La Gommeuse" sold for 67.5 million dollars (USD) at Sotheby's. It is true art!