Picasso executed this etching when he was a struggling twenty-three-year-old artist and had recently returned from his native Spain to Paris, settling in Montmartre. The Frugal Repast reveals the artist’s feelings toward humanity, especially the poor and others on the fringes of society. Although it is only the second etching Picasso made, this work demonstrates an astonishing mastery of the medium, capturing nuances of light and form solely with lines.