Picasso was a bullfighting aficionado from his youth and portrayed the bullring at various points in his career. As a very young artist he made picturesque renderings. Taking up the theme in his Neoclassical period, he devised bullfight scenes that suggest the ballet. In the 1930s, under the influence of Surrealism, Picasso emphasized the violence of the subject. Returning to the bullfighting motif in the late 1950s, he focused on strong colors suggesting the time of day and on decorative elements inherent in the unfolding drama.

Gallery label from

Picasso: Variations and Themes, March 28–September 30, 2010.

Medium Linoleum cut
Dimensions composition: 20 13/16 x 25 3/16" (52.9 x 64 cm); sheet: 24 7/16 x 29 1/2" (62.1 x 75 cm)
Publisher Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Printer Arnéra, Vallauris, France
Edition 50
Credit David S. Orentreich Fund
Object number 348.2009
Department Drawings and Prints

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Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Spanish, 1881–1973 1251 works online

With these words, Picasso shed light on two central principles of his artistic production over nearly 80 years: his openness to a diverse range of styles, subject matters, and mediums, and his resistance to the notion that change in art necessarily corresponds to improvement or progress.

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