The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Black chalk drawing on light brown paper with two people and a donkey loosely outlined and shaded by diagonal streaks of varying darkness. On our left, a hooded person steps to our left, hand by the muzzel of a donkey in the background carying three stacked sacks. The figure looks towards a figure on our right, back to us, wearing a skirted outfit and balancing a container on their head with their right hand.

The Donkey Driver

1902

Pablo Picasso

(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain, 20th century
black chalk on brown wove paper
Sheet: 26 x 20 cm (10 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.12
© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Zervos I.136; Palau i Fabre: 807; PP 1902-080
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing is one of several by Pablo Picasso to featured donkeys around this time.

Description

Created during Pablo Picasso's Blue Period, a time when the artist focused on disenfranchised members of society, this drawing depicts a man and woman in what apperas to be Catalan costume. The subject may relate to Picasso's Spanish heritage or his study in Paris of drawings by the elder artist Puvis de Chavannes, who likewise focused on agrarian life. Picasso drew and reworked his composition in black chalk, leaving changes to the image fully evident as he worked.
  • Santiago Laporta, Barcelona
    by 1940-after 1946
    (Galerie Thannhauser, New York)
    after 1946-before 1958
    (Wildenstein and Co., New York, sold to Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.)
    ?-1958
    Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1958-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Zervos, Christian. Pablo Picasso. Paris: Éditions Cahiers d'Art, 1932. Mentioned: p. XLIV, no. 136; Reproduced: pl. 67
    Picasso. Exh. Cat. Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1932. Mentioned: p. 17, no. 255
    Cassou, Jean. Picasso. Translated by Mary Chamot. New York: Hyperion Press, 1940. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 146
    Pellicer, A. Cirici. Picasso antes de Picasso. Barcelona: Iberia - Joaquin Gil, 1946. Mentioned and reproduced: pl. 125
    Elgar, Frank and Robert Maillard. Picasso. Translated by Francis Scarfe. New York: Praeger, 1956. Reproduced: p. 19
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958 Mentioned and reproduced: no. 97
    Jardot, Maurice. Pablo Picasso Drawings. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1959. Mentioned: p. 153; Reproduced: pl. 3
    Simon, Sidney and Emily Rauh. 20th Century Master Drawings. Exh. Cat. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1963. Mentioned: no. 99; Reproduced: pl. 1
    Blunt, Anthony and Phoebe Pool. Picasso: The Formative Years, A Study of His Sources. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1963. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 125
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 196 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 195 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 241 archive.org
    Palau i Fabre, Josep. Picasso: The Early Years, 1881-1907. Translated by Kenneth Lyons. New York: Rizzoli, 1981. Mentioned: pp. 319, 539, no. 807; Reproduced: p. 319
    Glaesemer, Jüurgen. Der Junge Picasso: Frühwerk und Blaue Periode. Exh. Cat. Bern: Kunstmuseum Bern, 1984. Mentioned: 325, no. 166; Reproduced: p. 298
    Spies, Werner. Picasso: Pastelle, Zeichnungen, Aquarelle. Exh. Cat. Tübingen: Kunstehalle Tübingen, 1986. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 16
    Galassi, Susan Grace and Marilyn McCully. Picasso's Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition. Exh. Cat. New York: Frick Collection, 2011. Mentioned: pp. 93-95, no. 13; Reproduced: p. 94
    The Picasso Project: Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture: A Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue, 1885-1973: The Blue Period, 1902-1904, Barcelona and Paris. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 2011. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 31, no. 1902-080
  • Picasso and Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (December 8, 2024-March 23, 2025).
    Picasso's Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition . National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (February 5-May 6, 2012).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007).
    Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).
    Picasso: Pastelle, Zeichnungen, Aquarelle (Picasso: Pastels, Paintings, Watercolors). Künsthalle Tubingen, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany (April 5-June 1, 1986); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, Dusseldorf 1, Germany (organizer) (June 13-July 27, 1986).
    Pablo Picasso: Fruhwerk und Blaue Periode (Pablo Picasso: Early Work and the Blue Period). Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland (organizer) (December 6, 1984-February 17, 1985).
    French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966).
    20th Century Master Drawings. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 6, 1963-January 6, 1964); Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN (February 1-March 15, 1964); Fogg Art Museum/Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (April 6-May 24, 1964).
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
    Picasso. Kunsthaus Zürich (September 11 - October 30, 1932).
  • {{cite web|title=The Donkey Driver|url=false|author=Pablo Picasso|year=1902|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.12