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Sheep Skull with Grapes

1939
Not on view
Upon the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939, Picasso left Paris and decamped to Royan. He stayed in that small town on France's southern Atlantic coast for an entire year with his new lover, Dora Maar, as well as Marie-Thérèse Walter and their daughter, Maya. Uncertain of the outcome of the war and uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, he filled eight sketchbooks with drawings that reflect his anxiety, among them innumerable studies of sheep's skulls and jawbones. This watercolor is based on a drawing in his first Royan sketchbook.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sheep Skull with Grapes
  • Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Date: 1939
  • Medium: Brush and black ink and wash and opaque watercolor on paper
  • Dimensions: 18 1/16 × 25 5/16 in. (45.8 × 64.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.354
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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