Just learnt that Pablo Picasso at the age of about 22 painted his La Misereuse Accroupie (The Crouching Beggar, 1902) over a landscape painting of contemporary painter Santiago Rusiñol. That painters used existing paintings as canvas for a new painting is well known. However, to paint over a contemporary and potential competing Spanish painter's painting is a different story! Looks like an act of lack of respect or of contempt or juvenile inexperience or lack of resources?
The good news is that efforts are underway to restore the lost art using artificial intelligence/machine learning/computer vision! (see e.g. "Resolution enhancement in the recovery of underdrawings via style transfer by generative adversarial deep neural networks")
"... In 2018, researchers used an x-ray technique to reveal that Picasso had painted his “Crouching Beggar” on top of another artwork. Art experts believe the underlying composition, which depicts a park in Barcelona, was painted by Picasso’s contemporary Santiago Rusiñol. ..." (Source)
It appears that Rusinol may even have influenced Picasso: "Organized jointly by the Museu Picasso and the Museu Cau Ferrat de Sitges, Picasso vs. Rusiñol explores the connections of a different order between the two artists. The exhibition allows us to infer the influence of Rusiñol and the Barcelona art world on Picasso, from which he gradually distanced himself as his Parisian experience consolidated." (Source)
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