Juggler with Still Life

1905

Pablo Picasso

Artist, Spanish, 1881 - 1973

A pale, gray skinned young man stands next to a vase and plate of food against a pinkish-tan background in this loosely painted vertical painting on cardboard. The man’s body faces us but he looks down and slightly to our right with deeply shadowed eyes under dark brows. He has close-cropped, dark brown hair, a straight nose, and his full mouth is closed. He wears a slate-blue, fitted jacket over leggings, both painted with smudges of gray, dark green, and lilac purple, and some areas of the tan background show through. His feet are bare. The man’s left elbow, on our right, is bent so he holds his hand at his chest. The fingers of his other hand splay over his hip. Loosely painted and indistinct, a box-like form next to the man’s feet seems to be draped with a translucent white cloth. The box or table holds a tall terracotta vase behind a white dish. Four oval-shaped objects, painted with marigold orange and buttercup yellow, fill the plate and another sits on the cloth next to the dish. Sweeping but vague coral-peach lines and washes on the background suggest that the man may stand in front of a curtain. The artist signed the work “Picasso” in the lower left.
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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-C

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gouache on cardboard

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 100 x 69.9 cm (39 3/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
    framed: 121.6 x 92.1 x 8.2 cm (47 7/8 x 36 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.191

  • Copyright

    © 2012 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased 1910 from the artist by Paul Guillaume, Paris;[1] sold 2 May 1928 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Provenance compiled from in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1928

  • Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, 1928, no. 34

1931

  • Picasso-Braque-Léger, Museum of French Art, New York, 1931, no. 5.

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1943-1952 (extended loan), unnumbered catalogue, repro. p. 47

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952, no. 49, repro.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1978

  • Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978-1979, no. 5, repro.

1980

  • Picasso: The Saltimbanques, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, no. 60, fig. 71.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, no. 7.

Bibliography

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 77, repro.

1931

  • Dale, Maud. "Amerika und Europa." Kunst und Künstler (1931):repro. 240.

1932

  • Zervos, Christian. Pablo Picasso. 33 vols. Paris, 1932-1978: 1(1957): no. 294, pl. 126.

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1943:, 47, repro.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): 49, repro.

1960

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): 51, repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 70, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 101.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 89, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 266, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 602, no. 935, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 306, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Picasso

Wikidata ID

Q20190939

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