The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 29, 2025

Harlequin with Violin

1918
(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 171 x 132 x 7.5 cm (67 5/16 x 51 15/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 142.2 x 100.3 cm (56 x 39 1/2 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1975.2
© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Picasso associated himself with the character Harlequin, a jokester from the popular commedia dell'arte, a happy-go-lucky and nimble sprite, juggler, and conjurer in whom Picasso recognized his own artistic abilities.

Description

The diamond-patterned costume and triangular hat identify the musician in this painting as one of Picasso’s alter egos, Harlequin, a jokester from the popular commedia dell’arte (a theatrical form in which a cast of colorful stock characters spoke in improvised dialogue that became popular in northern Italy in the 1500s and rapidly gained popularity throughout Europe). The phrase Si tu veux on the sheet of music may refer to a contemporary popular song that began, “If you wish, Marguerite, make me happy by giving me your heart.” The inclusion of this lyric may refer to Picasso’s marriage to Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova the year this painting was made.
  • Sold to Paul Rosenberg, Paris, France
    1926
    John Quinn [1870-1924] New York, NY
    by 1937-
    (Paul Roseneberg, Paris, France and New York, NY, by 1937)
    1975
    (Alexandre Rosenberg, New York, NY, 1975, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1975-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Barr, Alfred H. Picasso: Forty Years of His Art. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1939. Reproduced: no. 40
    Richardson, John. Picasso: an American Tribute. [Exhibition] April 25-May 12, 1962. New York, NY: Public Education Association, in cooperation with Chanticleer Press, 1962. Reproduced: in color, part III
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” February 18, 1975, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Henning, Edward B. “Picasso: Harlequin with Violin (Si Tu Veux).” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 1 (January 1976): 1–11. Reproduced: Cover, p. 4, fig. 5; Mentioned: p. 2-11 www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1975.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 2 (February 1976): 31–71. Reproduced: p. 48; Mentioned: p. 70, no. 139 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 242 archive.org
    Henning, Edward B. “Two New Cubist Paintings by Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 2 (February 1981): 39–50. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 39-40, fig. 4 www.jstor.org
    Borowitz, Helen O. “Three Guitars: Reflections of Italian Comedy in Watteau, Daumier, and Picasso.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 4 (April 1984): 116–29. www.jstor.org
    Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Reproduced: P. 49, pl. IV; Mentioned and reproduced: P. 116, no. 24
    Henning, Edward B. “A ‘Memento Mori’ by Picasso.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 8 (October 1988): 320–327. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 323-324, fig. 6 www.jstor.org
    Boggs, Jean Sutherland, Brigitte Léal, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. Picasso and Things: The Still Lifes of Picasso. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992. Mentioned and reproduced: P.184, fig. 71a
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 297
    Keller, Mariah, Simonetta Fraquelli, Kenneth E. Silver, Elizabeth Cowling, and Dominique H. Vasseur. Picasso: The Great War, Experimentation, and Change. New York, NY: Scala, 2016
    Shields, Chris. "A New Model." Art & Antiques, (Nov. 2016): 70-77. Reproduced: p. 77
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    Berggruen, Olivier, ed. Picasso: Between Cubism and Classicism 1915-1925. Milano, Italy: Skira, 2017. Reproduced: P. 105, no. 5
    Robinson, William H. "Harlequin with Violin: A new take on Picasso's mysterious painting.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 57, no. 4 (July/August 2017): 16-17. Reproduced: P. 16; Mentioned: P. 17.
    Henning, Edward B. Fifty Years of Modern Art, 1916-1966. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: no. 9
  • Pablo Picasso between Cubism and Classicism, 1915-1925. Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, Italy (organizer) (September 21, 2017-January 21, 2018).
    Picasso: The Artist and His Models. Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (November 5, 2016-February 19, 2017).
    Picasso: The Great War, Experimentation, and Change. The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA (February 21-May 9, 2016); Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (organizer) (June 10-September 11, 2016).
    Picasso and the Circus. Museu Picasso, Barcelona, Spain (organizer) (November 15, 2006-February 18, 2007); Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, Switzerland (March 9-June 10, 2007).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
    Picasso and Theatre (Parade, Pulcinella, Mercure). Museu Picasso (organizer) (November 19, 1996-January 23, 1997).
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    Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (May 22-September 16, 1980).
    Year in Review: 1975. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 3-March 7, 1976).
    Fifty Years of Modern Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1966).
    Picasso, an American Tribute. Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, NY. (April 15-May 12, 1962).
    Picasso, Forty Years of his Art. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (1939).,
  • {{cite web|title=Harlequin with Violin|url=false|author=Pablo Picasso|year=1918|access-date=29 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.2