Pablo Picasso

Estate of the artist
Marina Picasso Collection
Private Collection (acquired from the above)

Venice, 1981, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Munich & travelling, 1981-82, illustrated in the catalogue
Tokyo & Kyoto, 1983, illustrated in the catalogue
Melbourne & Sydney, 1984, illustrated in the catalogue
London, 1988, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, 1989, no. 52, illustrated in the catalogue
Barcelona & Bern, 1992, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Berlin, 1999, illustrated in the catalogue
New York & Geneva, 2001-02, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Glimcher & Glimcher (ed.), no. 22, illustrated in colour p. 35

"The clothed acrobat is more fully developed in colour, and is one of the two most realised sheets contained in sketchbook no. 35. Here, the costume of red shirt and tights is combined with dense black shorts. More delicate tones are used to model the acrobat's body, and to articulate his neck and head." (Glimcher & Glimcher (ed.) et al., op cit, p. 15)

The present work is one of the most complete in the sketchbook and gives us a fine indication of the thought process behind Picasso's palette at this time. The wall to which the boy stares is flat to the viewer and familiar to many of his earlier works in which the figures are pushed to the front of the picture plane. What intrigues most about this piece is the form of the boy: he is elongated in the arms and neck highlighting the androgynous feel of the subject. In many of Picasso's Rose Period works the boys are girl-like in proportion with waifish long limbs and clinging bright clothes.

Fig. 1 Pablo Picasso, L'Acteur, 1904-05, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York