Image: MoMA / Public Domain
View source →Night Fishing at Antibes
Pablo Picasso, 1939
Technical Details
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
205.7 × 345.4 cm (81 × 136 in)
Style
Surrealism
Decade
1930s
About This Work
Night Fishing at Antibes is one of Picasso's largest and most complex wartime paintings, depicting a nocturnal fishing scene on the Côte d'Azur. Fishermen spear fish by lamplight while two women watch from the quay. The painting is a riot of color and form — the dark sea, the bright lamp, the phosphorescent fish, the distorted figures — all rendered in Picasso's most complex Surrealist style. It is one of the last great paintings before the outbreak of World War II.
Painted in August 1939 — just weeks before the outbreak of World War II — Night Fishing at Antibes captures the last days of peace on the French Riviera. Picasso was staying in Antibes with Dora Maar and was inspired by the sight of fishermen using acetylene lamps to attract fish at night. The painting was acquired by MoMA in 1952.
Current Location
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
Public Collection — Open to visitors
Visit museum website →Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
$100–150 million (est.)
* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.
Last Known Sale
No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection
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