Harlequin with Guitar

Pablo Picasso, 1918

Technical Details

About This Work

Painted in 1918, 'Harlequin with Guitar' (L'Arlequin à la guitare) is a charming and intimate oil painting on wood measuring 35 by 27 centimeters, housed in the Museum Berggruen in Berlin. The work depicts a solitary Harlequin dressed in his iconic checkered costume, holding a guitar. Unlike the melancholy, emotionally withdrawn harlequins of Picasso's earlier Blue and Rose periods or the tragic figures of subsequent decades, this Harlequin radiates an air of serene contentment and uncomplicated joy. Rendered in a small-scale, cabinet format reminiscent of a miniature panel painting, the composition showcases vibrant color harmonies and simplified, expressive forms. The seated musician embodies a lighthearted pastoral tranquility, capturing the cheerful theatrical motifs that captivated Picasso during his travels to Italy and his theatrical set design work for the Ballets Russes. The delicate brushwork on wood highlights the warmth of the support, creating a cozy and engaging visual presence that contrasts sharply with Picasso's monumental contemporaneous canvases.

Created in 1918, 'Harlequin with Guitar' reflects Pablo Picasso's artistic pivot toward classicism and theatrical themes following his pivotal journey to Italy with Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1917. During this Italian sojourn, Picasso immersed himself in classical antiquities, Renaissance masterworks, and popular Italian theatrical traditions, which deeply revitalized his visual vocabulary. In the spring of 1917, he famously designed the monumental stage curtain for the ballet 'Parade,' incorporating colorful harlequins and cheerful pastoral settings. This 1918 wooden panel functions as an intimate miniature study and continuation of those theatrical motifs, diverging sharply from the somber, psychological introspection of his wartime production. Provenance records trace the painting from Zurich art dealers Gustave and Léon Bollag, who acquired it likely in April 1918, through to renowned dealer and collector Heinz Berggruen, who purchased it in 1955. In 2000, the work entered the public holdings of Museum Berggruen in Berlin through a joint acquisition supported by the German Federal Government and the State of Berlin, cementing its status as a celebrated treasure of modern European art.

Current Location

Valuation & Provenance

Keywords