Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist who made many forms of art including painting, sculpting, poetry and playwriting. He spent most of his life in France and is regarded as a founder of the cubist movement and constructed sculpture.
The work I selected is called “Au Lapin Agile” which according to the MET is a painting of Picasso, a lover named Garmaine Pichot and Frede Gerard, who commissioned the painting, in a cabaret. The work was made in 1905 and stayed in Paris till 1912 when it was sold to a German collector. In the painting Picasso paints himself as a Harlequin.
The characters in the painting have a cartoon like quality to them. As supposed to drawing a portrait, where the people look as close to real life as possible. We see that certain features of the characters are very sharp such as their faces or when the clothes they wear. Others are muted and almost distorted such as their hands. As we spoke in class it’s like the artist the reminding us that this is a painting, an interpretation of that moment in time not a replacement for the real thing.
I encountered this painting around works that were more “life like”. Portraits of people and nature, a huge painting of a man with many horses really stood out as did another with a depicting a beautiful scene in nature. It was kind of odd to see this painting where it was and that is what partially drew me to it. I’m usually not a fan of modern art as I don’t really understand what the artist is trying to convey but I like this painting. The use of different colors for light in the room, the characters painted not life like gave me a sense of relief. Never have I felt that emotion looking at a painting before. I could imagine this being a scene in an animated movie or comic with its vibrant colors and almost expected the characters to start moving. Lastly, I can relate to the scene itself, a simple act of being with a friend or lover going to listen to music. It makes me think of how human beings from all times are connected through these simple circumstances of life.
I do have a few questions about the work. Why did Picasso paint himself as a Harlequin? Why are the hands of the characters distorted and why is the musician in the back glowing? Also, why did Picasso choose this as the setting?
Arun, This is a very famous work by Picasso with a lot of interesting biographical details behind it. The title refers to a cabaret/bar that Picasso used to hang out at. The figure on the left in the painting is actually the owner of the Lapin Agile, and he commissioned this painting from Picasso which Picasso used to pay off his bar tab there! The woman is a woman whom a friend of Picasso’s had been in love with, but she did not love him back. The friend tried to shoot the woman, then shot himself and died. All this is part of the backstory of this painting. Why Picasso paints himself as a harlequin is a great question. The harlequin is a figure from Commedia del’Arte, usually understood to be an acrobat, but also known as a trickster and an outsider.