Dying Bull
Picasso's father took him to see his first bullfight in 1889, when he was only nine years old. The spectacle so impressed him that he made it the subject of his very first painting that same year. In 1934 Picasso again took up the subject in an extensive series of drawings, prints, and paintings in which the choreography of the corrida became a metaphor for life and death. Here, Picasso focuses solely on the agony of the dying bull, eliminating the spectators, horses, and matador.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dying Bull
- Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
- Date: 1934
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 13 1/4 × 21 3/4 in. (33.7 × 55.2 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998
- Object Number: 1999.363.67
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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