Harlequin, Head in Profile, and Four Small Figures

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This drawing holds in careful balance a variety of discrete figures unaffiliated with any one composition and marked by a disparity of scale, media, finish, and technique. In this way, Picasso self-consciously imitated the appearance of old master study sheets, such as those by Michelangelo and Leonardo. His attention to the overall harmony of the page as well as the negative space around individual figures reveals that what might first be viewed as a random aggregate of spontaneous sketches is in fact a considered work of art.

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