Two Youths

1906

Pablo Picasso

Artist, Spanish, 1881 - 1973

A nude boy or young man sits on a gray box and hunches over his foot, next to a second nude boy who stands facing us in this loosely painted, vertical scene. Both boys have light skin with a yellow cast, and their bodies are outlined with delicate brown lines. They both have short-cropped brown hair, and their facial features are sketched in with brown paint. To our left, the boy sitting on the box looks down at his right foot, on our left, which he holds up on the box with both hands. Next to him, the second boy stands with his arms down by his sides and he looks off into the distance to our right. The room is undefined but has a pale, rust-red floor. Behind them, a terracotta-red urn and jug sit on a platform, possibly in a niche in the silvery-gray wall. Brushstrokes are visible throughout. The artist signed the painting in red letters in the upper left corner: “Picasso.”
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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-C

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 151.5 x 93.7 cm (59 5/8 x 36 7/8 in.)
    framed: 182.3 x 121.9 x 6 cm (71 3/4 x 48 x 2 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.197

  • Copyright

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

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Ambroise Vollard [1867-1939], Paris).[1] Yvon Helft, Paris, by 1930.[2] (Paul P. Rosenberg et Cie., Paris); sold 15 May 1930 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Provenance compiled from information in object file (1963.10.197) in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1926

  • Tri-National Art: French, British, American, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, 1926, no. 188.

1931

  • Picasso-Braque-Léger, Museum of French Art, New York, 1931, no. 3.

1932

  • Exposition Picasso, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1932, no. 32.

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1943-1952 (extended loan), unnumbered catalogue, repro. p. 46

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952, no. 50, 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. 6, repro.

1997

  • Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1997-1998, no. 151, color repro. (shown only in Washington).

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1932

  • Zervos, Christian. Pablo Picasso. 33 vols. Paris, 1932-1978: 1(1957): no. 305, pl. 136.

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1943:, 46, repro.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): 50, repro.

1960

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): 52, repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 71, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 102.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 90, 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. 933, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 309, repro.

2013

  • Harris, Neil. Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience. Chicago and London, 2013: 250.

Inscriptions

upper left: Picasso

Wikidata ID

Q20191067

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