The Acrobats (Les saltimbanques)

1905, published 1913

Pablo Picasso

Associated Names
Pablo Picasso

Artist, Spanish, 1881 - 1973

Ambroise Vollard

Publisher, French, 1866 - 1939

Louis Fort

Printer, French, active first half 20th century

The image features delicate, flowing lines that form an abstract representation of human figures and their surroundings. The shapes suggest a variety of figures engaged in different activities, such as balancing on a spherical object, gesturing with raised hands, or holding objects. The overall composition and minimal lines create an abstract interpretation open to viewers' exploration of connections to familiar scenes of human gatherings.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    drypoint on wove Van Gelder paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 28.7 x 32.8 cm (11 5/16 x 12 15/16 in.)
    sheet: 35.8 x 42 cm (14 1/8 x 16 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.6733

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Geiser/Baer, no. 9, State ii/ii (b2)

  • Series Title

    The Saltimbanques [Bloch 1-15]

  • Copyright

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

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1945

  • French Prints of the 19th Century from the Rosenwald Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Biblioteca Benjamin Franklin, Mexico City, 1945, no. 39.

1959

  • Old Master Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, Brown University, Providence, RI, 1959.

1961

  • A Picasso Retrospective in Prints from the National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection, 12 venue tour organized by the American Federation of Arts (Arnot Art Gallery, Elmira, NY; Art Association of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Rodman Hall Arts Center, St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH; Miami Beach Art Center, FL; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, AL; Fort Worth Art Center, TX; Boise Art Association, ID; Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, CT; Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Quebec, Canada; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY; and De Cordova and Dana Museum, Lincoln, MA), 1961-1962, no cat.

2008

  • Pablo Picasso: Preoccupations and Passions, Naples (Florida) Museum of Art, 2008, no cat.

Bibliography

1968

  • Bloch, Georges. Pablo Picasso; catalogue de l'oeuvre grave et lithographie 1904-1967. Bern: Kornfeld und Klipstein, 1968.

1990

  • Geiser/Baer, novol. 1) and 1992 (vol. 2). See Baer 1986-1996 for volumes 1 and 2.

2010

  • Robison, Andrew. "Pablo Picasso, Young Woman Seated in an Armchair," National Gallery of Art Bulletin, no. 43 (Fall 2010): 24-25.

Inscriptions

lower right in plate: Picasso / 1905; by later hand, lower left in graphite: 36465 NK

Wikidata ID

Q65024197

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