Pablo Picasso "Ecce Homo," after Rembrandt from Suite 156 1970, published 1978

  • Not on view

Like many artists, Picasso looked to the history of art for inspiration. From the late 1940s to the early 1960s he focused with particular intensity on individual works by past masters, making variations in painting, drawing, sculpture, and prints. The work of these historic figures had a catalytic impact on Picasso at a time when contemporary art—the various forms of Abstract Expressionism, for example—was going in directions counter to his own aesthetic concerns.

Picasso based this work on one of Rembrandt van Rijn's most revered etchings. He reinterpreted the religious scene as a secular one, depicting a theater filled with the people who had populated his life and art.

Gallery label from Picasso: Variations and Themes, March 28–September 30, 2010.
Medium
Etching and aquatint
Dimensions
plate: 19 1/2 x 16 1/8" (49.5 x 41 cm); sheet: 26 13/16 x 22 5/16" (68.1 x 56.7 cm)
Publisher
Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Printer
Crommelynck, Paris
Edition
50
Credit
Edgar Wachenheim III Fund
Object number
1385.2009
Copyright
© 2024 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Department
Drawings and Prints

Installation views

We have identified these works in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works

In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research/circulating-film.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].