Underneath the oil paint lies a portrait of a naked woman in the shape of a heart.

Picasso had painted over the picture, which wasnt unusual for the artist when money was tight.

40% off TNW Conference!

Scientists use AI, X-rays, and 3D printing to reveal a hidden Picasso

A decade later, two researchers from University College London have reproduced the painting.

The duo first used X-ray and infrared imagery to reveal the underpainting within the surface piece.

This imagery was then processed to separate the exterior and interior pieces.

An X-ray of the The Blind Man’s Mea was taken around 2010 for the Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition

Next, anartificial neural networkwas trained on works by Picasso.

This enabled the system to reproduce the piece in the Spanish artists style.

The researchers then generated a heatmap of the artwork to give the piece texture.

It appears unfinished in the background of Picasso’s La Vie.

Finally, the piece was 3D-printed onto canvas in the exact size of the original painting.

It is for other people to find the hidden meanings.

Not everyone shares Bouracheds enthusiasm.

The Lonesome Crouching Nude was hidden beneath Pablo Picasso’s The Blind Man’s Meal.

Criticsdoubt that AI can accurately replicatea Picasso and fear that it adds elements the artist would not have used.

Story byThomas Macaulay

Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.

He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.

The painting is being exhibited at DeeepTM, London’s first AI dedicated art fair. Credit: Oxia Palus

Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.

He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.

Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).

Also tagged with