Pablo Picasso
The Monkey
1904
Scroll
Pablo Picasso
The Monkey
1904
Physical Qualities
Pen and black ink and transparent watercolor, Sheet: 502 × 321 mm. (19 3/4 × 12 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.271
Picasso appears to be fascinated with the monkey’s human characteristics, which he captures with wit and consummate draftsmanship. The monkey is a most elegant creature, posed with head held high, in intelligent selfcomposure. In this finished drawing, the blue background and gray wash were applied over light pencil lines subsequently erased. Finally, Picasso drew the monkey with calligraphic pen lines reminiscent of Japanese screen paintings. This drawing may appear to be a study for the watercolor The Acrobat Family from the Göteborg Museum, seen nearby, but is, in fact, an independent work. The monkey’s pose is similar to that of the monkey in the drypoint, Circus Family with Monkey, also shown nearby. Monkeys became popular in Parisian circuses in 1898, with the opening of Glasner’s Cirque des Singes (Circus of Monkeys).
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; from Etta Cone, Baltimore, by 1934
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., The Museum of Modern Art, NY, "Picasso: 75th Anniversary Exhibition," May 22-September 1957, ill. p. 24.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Picasso: A Loan Exhibition of His Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, and Illustrated Books," January 8-February 23, 1958, no. 25, ill.
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, "French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse," August 2-September 1958, no. 212, pl. 197 (circulated to Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY).
Mr. Porter A. McCray, Committee for the Exhibition of French Drawings from American Collections, New York, NY, Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, Aug. 2 - Sept. 28, 1958; circulated to Orangerie, Paris, Oct. 2, 1958 - Jan. 2, 1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Feb. 2 - Mar. 15, 1959.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The
Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Jay Fisher, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from the Cone Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, 17 November, 1996 - 19 January, 1997; Seattle Art Museum 20 February - 20 April, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18 May - 13 July, 1997.
Jay Fisher, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Picasso: The Circus," April 22-July 22 2001.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Göteborgs konstmuseum, Göteborgs, Sweden, "Pablo Picasso: The Acrobat Family," August 4- November 30, 2006, no. 14, p. 130, ill. pp. 35, 54.
Oliver Shell, BMA, "A Circus Family: Picasso to Léger," 22 February through 17 May 2009.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Picasso: A Loan Exhibition of His Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, and Illustrated Books," January 8-February 23, 1958, no. 25, ill.
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, "French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse," August 2-September 1958, no. 212, pl. 197 (circulated to Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY).
Mr. Porter A. McCray, Committee for the Exhibition of French Drawings from American Collections, New York, NY, Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, Aug. 2 - Sept. 28, 1958; circulated to Orangerie, Paris, Oct. 2, 1958 - Jan. 2, 1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Feb. 2 - Mar. 15, 1959.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The
Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Jay Fisher, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from the Cone Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, 17 November, 1996 - 19 January, 1997; Seattle Art Museum 20 February - 20 April, 1997; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 18 May - 13 July, 1997.
Jay Fisher, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Picasso: The Circus," April 22-July 22 2001.
Katy Rothkopf, "Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris," circulated to North Carolina Museum of Art, October 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, March 2 - June 3, 2007.
Göteborgs konstmuseum, Göteborgs, Sweden, "Pablo Picasso: The Acrobat Family," August 4- November 30, 2006, no. 14, p. 130, ill. pp. 35, 54.
Oliver Shell, BMA, "A Circus Family: Picasso to Léger," 22 February through 17 May 2009.
"Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, pl. 60.
Adelyn Breeskin, "Picasso's 'Saltimbanques' in the Cone Collection, " "The Baltimore Museum of Art News, vol. XIII, no. 3 (December 1949), pp. 3-4.
Adelyn Breeskin, "Early Picasso Drawings in the Cone Collection," "Magazine of Art," vol. XLV, no. 3 (March 1952), ill. cover and p. 107.
Christian Zervos, "Pablo Picasso," Vol. XXII, Paris: Editions Cahiers d'Art, 1954, no. 162.
Baltimore Museum of Art Art. Cone Collection: A Handbook with a Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, cat. no. 86, page 22.
"The Cone Collection," (rev. ed.), Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, no. 82.
Pierre Daix and George Boudaille, "Picasso, the Blue and Rose Periods: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1900-1906," trans. by Phoebe Pool, London: Evelyn, Adams and Mackay, 1967, no. DXII.1.
Denys Sutton and Paolo Lecaldano, "The Complete Paintings of Picasso: Blue and Rose Periods," London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, Ltd., 1971, no. 163, ill.
Victor I. Carlson, "Picasso: Drawings and Watercolors, 1899-1907 in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1976, cat. 12.
Markings: Embossed watermark: "LE PAGE AINÉ . TOCHON - LE PAGE SUCCR." backwards along bottom edge.
