Just a moment
Just a moment
Pablo Picasso · 1918 · Cleveland Museum of Art
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The diamond-patterned costume and triangular hat identify the musician in this painting as one of Pablo Picasso’s alter egos, Harlequin, a jokester from the popular commedia dell’arte (a theatrical form in which a cast of colorful stock characters spoke in improvised dialogue).The phrase Si tu veux (“If you wish”) on the music sheet may refer to a contemporary popular song that began, "If you wish, Marguerite, make me happy by giving me your heart.” The inclusion of this lyric may refer to Picasso’s marriage to Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova the year this painting was made. Picasso associated himself with the character Harlequin, a jokester from the popular commedia dell'arte, a happy-go-lucky and nimble sprite, juggler, and conjurer in whom Picasso recognized his own artistic abilities.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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