Three Musicians

Picasso titled two collages and oil works Three Musicians. Both were completed in 1921 at Fontainebleau, near Paris, France, and are remarkable specimens of the Synthetic Cubist style. Each piece portrays a Harlequin, a Pierrot, and a monk, who are claimed to be Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Max Jacob.

The Harlequin with the guitar in the center is a recurring stand-in for Picasso throughout his work. Pierrot and Harlequin are classic characters from the ancient Italian comedy theater known as Commedia dell'Arte, a reoccurring theme in Picasso's art.

Despite being an oil painting, Three Musicians appears to be a collage made from cut-out pieces of colorful paper. The forms are simplified to geometric designs that fit together like jigsaw puzzles.

Three Musicians represents a significant shift in Picasso's work that occurred after 1914. Picasso only made a few collages after 1914. Instead, he employed Cubist techniques in the traditional medium of oil on canvas, allowing him to create far larger and more colorful pieces.

This new approach had a significant advantage: oil paintings could command far higher prices than collages.

Year: 1921