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Family of comedians
Pablo Picasso • Painting, 1905, 212.8×229.6 cm
Description of the artwork «Family of comedians»
If you had the need to make an impression about The "pink period" of the work of Pablo Picassojust one picture, for this purpose would be the best fit "Family of comedians". This huge canvas (one of the largest in the life of the artist) combines several distinctive features at once: muted colors that make the picture look like a fresco, compositional solution and, finally, the choice of heroes.
In 1904, Picasso finally settled in Paris and met his first muse, Fernanda Olivier. Thanks to her, he becomes a regular in the circus of Medrano, which was located near the artist's studio in Montmartre. In particular, this is why the circus artists are most often the heroes of the paintings of the “pink period”. They become for the artist a new form of outcasts that replaced the unfortunate, destitute and sick people who inhabited his paintings in the previous few years.
However, Picasso repeatedly addressed this topic in his earlier works. Many researchers agree that the artist wrote each of his Harlequin from himself. To some extent, he identifies himself with all the heroes of the picture, subtly sensing and conveying their duality. On the one hand, wandering circus performers were an embodiment of internal freedom and independence for him, and on the other, it was hardly difficult to understand that constant moving and performing for the amusement of the public were the only way for these people to survive.
As for the other characters of the canvas, the little girl that Harlequin holds by the hand, art historians consider a tribute to the artist’s sister Konchite, who died of diphtheria in 1895. It is believed that the fat buffoon portrays Guillaume Apollinaire, and the prototypes for the eldest acrobat boy according to different versions were the poets Max Jacob and Andre Salmon. A woman sitting on the ground, who is separated from the group both compositionally and emotionally, is most likely Picasso's lover Fernanda Olivier.
Some preliminary outline“Families of comedians”, which show that the hippodrome served as the initial background for circus artists, but in the end the artist replaced it with a deserted landscape similar to the views of his native Andalusia. Warm, transparent colors create a feeling of vibration of the air surrounding the characters of the canvas. And deprived of any kind of life, the background emphasizes the isolation of this small group, doomed to constant flight and the inability to find its place in the world.
Author: Evgenia Sidelnikova
In 1904, Picasso finally settled in Paris and met his first muse, Fernanda Olivier. Thanks to her, he becomes a regular in the circus of Medrano, which was located near the artist's studio in Montmartre. In particular, this is why the circus artists are most often the heroes of the paintings of the “pink period”. They become for the artist a new form of outcasts that replaced the unfortunate, destitute and sick people who inhabited his paintings in the previous few years.
However, Picasso repeatedly addressed this topic in his earlier works. Many researchers agree that the artist wrote each of his Harlequin from himself. To some extent, he identifies himself with all the heroes of the picture, subtly sensing and conveying their duality. On the one hand, wandering circus performers were an embodiment of internal freedom and independence for him, and on the other, it was hardly difficult to understand that constant moving and performing for the amusement of the public were the only way for these people to survive.
As for the other characters of the canvas, the little girl that Harlequin holds by the hand, art historians consider a tribute to the artist’s sister Konchite, who died of diphtheria in 1895. It is believed that the fat buffoon portrays Guillaume Apollinaire, and the prototypes for the eldest acrobat boy according to different versions were the poets Max Jacob and Andre Salmon. A woman sitting on the ground, who is separated from the group both compositionally and emotionally, is most likely Picasso's lover Fernanda Olivier.
Some preliminary outline“Families of comedians”, which show that the hippodrome served as the initial background for circus artists, but in the end the artist replaced it with a deserted landscape similar to the views of his native Andalusia. Warm, transparent colors create a feeling of vibration of the air surrounding the characters of the canvas. And deprived of any kind of life, the background emphasizes the isolation of this small group, doomed to constant flight and the inability to find its place in the world.
Author: Evgenia Sidelnikova
