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Lot Essay
When Picasso initially became involved with designing sets for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, he and composer Igor Stravinsky would stroll through Naples, visit Pompeii, and attend local performances of Commedia dell’Arte plays. While the works of the ancient city fostered Picasso’s nascent neo-classicism, performances of the Commedia dell’Arte rekindled his interest in its stock characters, particularly that of Harlequin, which Picasso had previously considered as a kind of alter ego.
Harlequin first appeared in Picasso's work in two paintings executed in Paris during autumn 1901: Les deux saltimbanques (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 92; The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow), and Arlequin accoudé (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 79; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). While Harlequin was absent in Picasso's Blue period, this figure assumed a pre-eminent role during the Rose period, appearing in numerous works, including Au Lapin Agile, painted in Paris in 1905 (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 275; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), in which the artist depicted himself in a harlequin costume. Harlequin also featured occasionally in Picasso's early cubist works. The artist was drawn to Harlequin's similarity to the French saltimbanque, the traveling circus performer, part acrobat, part prankster, who held a lowly position as a social outsider and lived by his wits from hand to mouth, a situation that Picasso felt was analogous to that of the artist in modern society.
The flat planes of color in the present work recall the papiers collés of Picasso’s Synthetic Cubism phase, and the inconsistent layering of planes adds verve to a composition that is predominantly sedate and tranquil. In his vast study of Picasso and the theater, Douglas Cooper wrote: “It is even more fascinating to follow the post-script of Pulcinella which, for the most part, takes the form of a series of small, colourful gouaches executed in a synthetic cubist style. Some of these present Pulcinella, guitar in hand, saluting us before the curtain; others, in which Pierrot and Harlequin appear together sitting at a table playing musical instruments, are of greater importance since they lead directly to the two masterpieces of synthetic cubism, the two versions of the Three Musicians" (op. cit., p. 48; fig. 1).
The present work was part of the astounding collection of Douglas Cooper, one of the world's foremost authorities on Cubism. He assembled one of the greatest collections of works by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Léger, based upon an in-depth analysis and understanding of the Cubist movement, which represented every phase of the development of these four artists, in all their primary media and the entire range of their subject matter.
Harlequin first appeared in Picasso's work in two paintings executed in Paris during autumn 1901: Les deux saltimbanques (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 92; The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow), and Arlequin accoudé (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 79; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). While Harlequin was absent in Picasso's Blue period, this figure assumed a pre-eminent role during the Rose period, appearing in numerous works, including Au Lapin Agile, painted in Paris in 1905 (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 275; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), in which the artist depicted himself in a harlequin costume. Harlequin also featured occasionally in Picasso's early cubist works. The artist was drawn to Harlequin's similarity to the French saltimbanque, the traveling circus performer, part acrobat, part prankster, who held a lowly position as a social outsider and lived by his wits from hand to mouth, a situation that Picasso felt was analogous to that of the artist in modern society.
The flat planes of color in the present work recall the papiers collés of Picasso’s Synthetic Cubism phase, and the inconsistent layering of planes adds verve to a composition that is predominantly sedate and tranquil. In his vast study of Picasso and the theater, Douglas Cooper wrote: “It is even more fascinating to follow the post-script of Pulcinella which, for the most part, takes the form of a series of small, colourful gouaches executed in a synthetic cubist style. Some of these present Pulcinella, guitar in hand, saluting us before the curtain; others, in which Pierrot and Harlequin appear together sitting at a table playing musical instruments, are of greater importance since they lead directly to the two masterpieces of synthetic cubism, the two versions of the Three Musicians" (op. cit., p. 48; fig. 1).
The present work was part of the astounding collection of Douglas Cooper, one of the world's foremost authorities on Cubism. He assembled one of the greatest collections of works by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Léger, based upon an in-depth analysis and understanding of the Cubist movement, which represented every phase of the development of these four artists, in all their primary media and the entire range of their subject matter.