Group of Catalans in Montmartre: Pichot, Mañach, Casagemas, Brossa, Picasso, and Gener

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FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Picasso turned 19 on his first trip to Paris. An outsider in France, he embedded himself in a community of Catalan artists, intellectuals, and activists residing in Montmartre—a location indicated by the windmill in the upper-right corner of this panel. This bleak winter scene depicts the artist with five compatriots from his 1900 stay in the capital. The artist's best friend, Carles Casagemas, stares directly at the viewer, while his own face is shrouded, distinguished only by a checkered scarf. Two decades later, Max Jacob described Picasso at the outset of his career: "today a dandy . . . he was then a Spaniard with wide hat and enveloping coat."

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