''Au Lapin Agile'' (English: ''At the Lapin Agile'') is a 1905

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest o ...

painting by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. It depicts the interior of the

Lapin Agile Lapin Agile is a famous Montmartre cabaret, at 22 Rue des Saules, 18th arrondissement of Paris, France. History It existed circa 1860 under the name Au rendez-vous des voleurs meaning "Where the Thieves Meet." Some twenty years later the ...

, a famous cabaret club in the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

area of Paris. The composition was produced during Picasso's Rose Period and includes a self-portrait of the artist who frequented the club in his youth. The painting is listed as one of the most expensive paintings after achieving a price of $40.7 million at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction on 27 November 1989. It is housed in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York City.

Background

This painting was produced in 1905, just a few years after the young Picasso and his friend

Carles Casagemas Carles Antoni Cosme Damià Casagemas i Coll (Carlos Casagemas) (September 27, 1880, in Barcelona, Spain – February 17, 1901, in Paris, France) was a Spaniards, Spanish painter and poet. He is known for his friendship with Pablo Picasso, who pai ...

settled in Paris in 1900. Not only did they find a new social circle in the artists of

, but they also became acquainted with a married seamstress named Germaine Pichot. Casagemas became obsessed with Pichot and relentlessly pursued her, but his affections were never returned. Picasso and his friends frequented a local cabaret club known as the

, where they drank and exchanged ideas with other artists. On 17 February 1901, during an evening drink with friends, Casagemas shot at Pichot with a revolver and then shot himself in the head. Picasso was greatly affected by the death of his friend and this tragic event is considered to be the major catalyst for the onset of

Picasso's Blue Period The Blue Period ( es, Período Azul) is a term used to define the works produced by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso between 1901 and 1904 when he painted essentially monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally warmed ...

. However, despite this emotional trauma, Picasso had an affair with Pichot after the event. In 1905, he was asked by the owner of the Lapin Agile, Frédéric Gérard, to produce a painting that would be hung inside. Picasso agreed in exchange for free food and drinks and created ''Au Lapin Agile'' at the age of 25.

Description

''Au Lapin Agile'' depicts a melancholy image of a couple sitting at a bar inside the Lapin Agile. The composition is simple, with little background detail, except for the presence of the bar upon which the couple stand their drinks and the small stage at the rear. The painting features three figures, a harlequin in the foreground, a woman sitting next to him wearing an orange dress and a feather boa, and a guitarist playing in the background. Picasso conveys a sombre scene by primarily using murky reddish-brown hues. The style of this painting is reminiscent of the works of

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

. The painting depicts figures from Picasso's personal life during this period. The harlequin in the scene is a brooding self-portrait of Picasso, while the woman sitting next to him is Germaine Pichot. The guitarist is Frédéric Gérard, the new owner of the club. Picasso painted himself as the most prominent figure in the scene, ensuring that he would also hold a prominent position in the main room at the club where the painting was to be hung. Columbia University art historian Theodore Reff has noted the alienation of the couple in the painting, which may reflect Picasso's own mood whilst in the company of Pichot, following the death of Casagemas.

Provenance

Frédéric Gérard commissioned the painting and exhibited it at the Lapin Agile from 1905 to 1912, when it was sold to a German collector. In 1952, Joan Whitney Payson bought the painting in New York for $60,000. When she died in 1975, it was inherited by her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet. On 27 November 1989, Walter H. Annenberg bought the painting at auction from the Joan Whitney Payson family for $40.7 million. He gave the painting to the

External links

*
Au Lapin Agile
' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Au Lapin Agile 1905 paintings Paintings by Pablo Picasso Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Self-portraits Portraits of women Musical instruments in art Paintings of Montmartre Food and drink paintings

Background

Description

Provenance

See also

External links

References