Pablo Picasso

THREE MUSICIANS

Musiciens aux masques" or "Three Musicians" was painted in 1921 by one of the most recognized artists in the 20th century, Pablo Picasso. The creation date causes this painting to fall within the period of Picasso's more exceptional and original artwork during his Cubism period and more specifically marked the end for Picasso of a style of Cubism called Synthetic Cubism.

The works created throughout the Cubism period do not feature objects in representation of just cubes, but instead fragmentations of semi-geometric figures placed on discontinuous planes.

For the fifteen years the Cubism period lasted, Picasso spent his time elaborating and really expanding this idea. There were three stages of Cubism: Analytical, Synthetic, and Curvilinear. Analytical Cubism focused on condensing the painting into simple geometric shapes. This period required the art work be analyzed and continually broken down into rectangular or circular sections. During these beginning years of Cubism, Picasso created unemotional and reserved paintings.

The transformation from Analytical Cubism to Synthetic Cubism began around 1912. Picasso, began featuring color and emotion in his artwork. Synthetic Cubism converted Picasso into a genius of extreme passion. This phase accentuated an abstract approach to the different views of the object and their representation on paper. Diverse textures, materials and colors distinguished the quasi-geometric shapes, which were in fact, quite dissimilar from the actual image. Three Musicians was an essential piece to this period and really encompassed the major theme of Synthetic Cubism.

The Three Musicians is an interpretation of a group performing in a small cafe. The figures and background images are composed from a collage of different colors: blue, brown, white, red, black and yellow. This painting is created by large geometric pieces, of what appears to be either paper or fabric, but is actually oil on canvas. These are then compiled into three surprisingly level musicians. The sharp-edged patches of colors and shapes are what help to express an unstable or rapid rhythm from the musician's evident instruments.

The central figure is a Harlequin playing while two other musicians sit faithfully by his side. These other two are believed to be a Pierrot . The Pierrot is featured on the left side of the painting performing with a up to his mouth. There is also a dog beneath his feet appearing to be lost within the shadows due to the definition solely in his ears, tail and feet.

There's incongruity in the small detail of the musical notes on the score held by the Monk, who is to the right of the Harlequin.

The Harlequin and a Pierrot are characters in Italian opera, which Picasso often identified with. Picasso repeatedly depicted himself as the Harlequin throughout his work. He identified with the Harlequin's life as an individual destined to live outside mainstream society, and someone who supported himself as an entertainer and tricks. The Harlequin's ability to transform whatever he touched with his magic wand was a metaphor for artistic creation with the painter's brush. The Pierrot and Monk were said to be poet friends of Picasso4s.

It appears that this painting is created by large pieces of either paper or fabric that are then cut and pasted into large geometric shapes, but the painting in fact was entirely done with oil on canvas. The ridged patches of colors and shapes are what cause people to believe that the music being played has an unstable and crooked rhythm.

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