Jardin de Paris (Design for a Poster)
As a young artist, Picasso availed himself of every opportunity for commercial work. During his early stays in Paris, he lived and worked in Montmartre, the locus of nocturnal pleasures both innocent and guilty. The streets were plastered with posters for the big dance halls—Le Moulin Rouge, Le Moulin de la Galette—as well as smaller cafés.
Picasso executed this design for Le Jardin de Paris, a Parisian dance hall, as a speculative bid. Located near the Champs Elysées, Le Jardin de Paris was the summer outpost of Le Moulin Rouge and was likewise managed by the Catalan Josep Oller (1839–1922). Borrowing from the imagery of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso also adopted Lautrec's signature tonal shading, here achieved by flicking a brush. Given that Lautrec was gravely ill and had stopped working, Picasso may have hoped to position himself as his successor. However, Oller did not buy the design, and a short time later, Picasso reused the back of this work to sketch preliminary compositions for the The Mourners (private collection) and The Burial of Casagemas (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris), dedicated to his late friend Carles Casagemas, in whose apartment he was living and whose lover, Germaine (Laure Gargallo), was now his own.
Picasso executed this design for Le Jardin de Paris, a Parisian dance hall, as a speculative bid. Located near the Champs Elysées, Le Jardin de Paris was the summer outpost of Le Moulin Rouge and was likewise managed by the Catalan Josep Oller (1839–1922). Borrowing from the imagery of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso also adopted Lautrec's signature tonal shading, here achieved by flicking a brush. Given that Lautrec was gravely ill and had stopped working, Picasso may have hoped to position himself as his successor. However, Oller did not buy the design, and a short time later, Picasso reused the back of this work to sketch preliminary compositions for the The Mourners (private collection) and The Burial of Casagemas (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris), dedicated to his late friend Carles Casagemas, in whose apartment he was living and whose lover, Germaine (Laure Gargallo), was now his own.
Artwork Details
- Title: Jardin de Paris (Design for a Poster)
- Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
- Date: 1901
- Medium: Black ink and watercolor on paper
- Dimensions: 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Gift of Raymonde Paul, in memory of her brother, C. Michael Paul, 1982
- Object Number: 1982.179.17a, b
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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1915
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1968
Pablo Picasso
1921
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