In this two-dimensional variant of one of Picasso’s paperboard-and-string constructions, the illegible newsprint laid on its side evokes the fine grain of a violin’s wood case. The map of lines surrounding the instrument, perhaps indicating where other cutouts might go, recalls the gridlike structure of many trompe l’oeil board paintings (including the nearby Harnett). To judge by the violin’s long, narrow form and pointed lower section, Picasso had a “kit” in mind. Small enough to be kept in a pocket, kit violins were used by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century dance teachers and street musicians and occasionally appear tucked behind straps in letter-rack paintings.
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Inscription: Signed (verso, upper center, in pencil): Picasso [underlined]
Marking: watermark: INGRES 1862 (FRANCE) with countermark CF and caduceus in crest
[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, spring 1913; photo no. 1278; valued at Fr 500]; probably Agnes Ernst Meyer and Eugene Meyer, Mount Kisco, New York; [Stendahl Art Galleries, Los Angeles, in April 1957 (owned or consigned)]; probably G. David Thompson, Pittsburgh; [possibly Galerie Berggruen et Cie, Paris]; Douglas Cooper, Argilliers, France (by late 1950s–d. 1984; estate no. DC 63/64; his bequest to McCarty Cooper); his partner and adopted son, William McCarty Cooper, London (1984–86; sold in November 1986 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (1986–13; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–16; gift to MMA)
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Douglas Cooper und die Meister des Kubismus," November 22, 1987–January 17, 1988, no. 59.
London. Tate Gallery. "Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism," February 3–April 4, 1988, no. 59.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris: Drawings from the Douglas Cooper Collection," June 16–July 31, 1988, no catalogue.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," September 24, 1989–January 16, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 266).
Houston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," October 14–December 30, 1990, no. 61.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," January 31–April 21, 1991, no. 61.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "1908–1914: Cubist Drawings Collected by Douglas Cooper," June 12–October 4, 1991, no catalogue.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso," October 2, 1999–January 4, 2000, no. 504.
Dallas Museum of Art. "The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso," February 1–May 7, 2000, no. 504.
Barcelona. Fundació Joan Miró. "Mestres del collage: de Picasso à Rauschenberg," November 25, 2005–February 26, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 55).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso: Guitars, 1912–1914," February 13–June 6, 2011, no. 37.
New York. Frick Collection. "Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition," October 4, 2011–January 8, 2012, no. 51.
Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art. "Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition," January 29–May 6, 2012, no. 51.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 70.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism and the Trompe l'Oeil Tradition," October 17, 2022–January 22, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 25).
Christian Zervos. "Oeuvres et images inédites de la jeunesse de Picasso." Cahiers d’art 25 (1950), ill. p. 281 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris).
William Rubin, ed. Picasso in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, including Remainder-Interest and Promised Gifts. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1972, p. 207, fig. 51 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as 1912–13).
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet. Picasso, The Cubist Years, 1907–1916: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and Related Works. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 1979, French]. Boston, 1979, ill. p. 358 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as late 1912).
William Rubin, ed. Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1980, ill. p. 151 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as late autumn 1912).
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1987, pp. 148, 178 nn. 146, 147, p. 212, no. 59, ill. p. 149.
William Rubin, ed. Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1989, ill. pp. 35 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as by the artist, November–December 1912), 266 (German ed., 1990, ill. p. 29 and fig. 311; French ed., 1990, and Spanish ed., 1991, ill. pp. 29, 260).
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, 1990, p. 62, no. 61.
Joseph Low (Pepe) Karmel. "Picasso's Laboratory: The Role of his Drawings in the Development of Cubism, 1910–14." PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1993, pp. 281–82, fig. 160, as "Violin".
Anne Baldassari. Picasso and Photography: The Dark Mirror. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Paris, 1997, p. 106, ill. pp. 110–11, fig. 130 (I) (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as by the artist, winter 1912).
Dorothy Kosinski et al. The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Dallas, 1999, pp. 18, 322, no. 504 ill. p. 19 and fig. 2 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as by the artist, winter 1912).
Wayne V. Andersen. Picasso's Brothel: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. New York, 2002, p. 322, fig. 195.
Pepe Karmel. Picasso and the Invention of Cubism. New Haven, 2003, p. 175, fig. 243, as "Violin".
Mestres del collage: De Picasso a Rauschenberg. Exh. cat., Fundació Joan Miró. Barcelona, 2005, p. 282, ill. p. 55.
Bernice B. Rose, ed. Picasso, Braque, and Early Film in Cubism. Exh. cat., PaceWildenstein. New York, 2007, pp. 111, 113, ill. p. 108 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as by the artist, November–December 1912), 109.
Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies. (video recording). Produced by Martin Scorsese and Robert Greenhut, Produced and directed by Arne Glimcher. New York: Arthouse Films, 2010, ill. (color).
Susan Grace Galassi in Susan Grace Galassi and Marilyn McCully with Joanna Sheers Seidenstein and Katie Steiner. Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition. Exh. cat., Frick Collection. New York, 2011, p. 19.
Blair Hartzell in Anne Umland. Picasso: Guitars, 1912–1914. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2011, p. 98.
Anne Umland. Picasso: Guitars, 1912–1914. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2011, pp. 24, 62, 94, ill. pp. 4–5, 44, pl. 5 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as December 9, 1912, or later), p. 63, pl. 37.
Marilyn McCully in Susan Grace Galassi and Marilyn McCully. Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition. Exh. cat., Frick Collection. New York, 2011, pp. 202, 204, no. 51, ill. p. 203.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 46, as December 1912.
Scott Gerson. "'Composition with a Violin': Conservation Notes." Picasso: The Making of Cubism, 1912–1914. Ed. Anne Umland, and Blair Hartzell, with Scott Gerson. Ebook. New York, 2014, pp. 7.9–7.10, ill.
Blair Hartzell. "'Composition with a Violin'." Picasso: The Making of Cubism, 1912–1914. Ed. Anne Umland, and Blair Hartzell, with Scott Gerson. Ebook. New York, 2014, pp. 7.1–7.5, ill.
Blair Hartzell. "'Composition with a Violin': Provenance." Picasso: The Making of Cubism, 1912–1914. Ed. Anne Umland, and Blair Hartzell, with Scott Gerson. Ebook. New York, 2014, pp. 7.11–7.18, ill.
Anne Umland and Blair Hartzell. "'Composition with a Violin': Selected Exhibitions; Selected References." Picasso: The Making of Cubism, 1912–1914. Ed. Anne Umland, and Blair Hartzell, with Scott Gerson. Ebook. New York, 2014, pp. 7.19–7.20, 7. 21, ill., and figs. 15, 16, (installed in the exhibition “Picasso: Guitars, 1912–1914,” Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2011), fig. 17 (on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph as mid-December 1912 or February 1913).
Anne Umland inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 100, 104, 308(4)n.33, no. 70, ill. p. 107 (color).
Eric Kandel inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 109–10.
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 293, fig. 70 (photographed in Picasso's studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris, mid-December 1912, or later).
Impressionist/Modern Evening Sale. Christie's, London. February 4, 2015, ill. p. 91 (installation photo).
Jeffrey Weiss. "Contingent Cubism." Grey Room no. 58 (Winter 2015), ill. p. 36 (on display in Picasso's studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris, November–December 1912).
Ortrud Westheider in Ortrud Westheider. Picasso: Fenster zur Welt. Ed. Ortrud Westheider and Michael Philipp. Exh. cat., Bucerius Kunst Forum. Hamburg, 2016, p. 21, fig. 4 (on display in Picasso's studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph by the artist, December 9, 1912).
Brigitte Leal. "Papiers collés." Dictionnaire du Cubisme. Ed. Brigitte Leal. Paris, 2018, p. 561.
Anne Lemonnier inLe Cubisme. Ed. Brigitte Leal, Christian Briend, and Ariane Coulondre. Exh. cat., Centre Pompidou, Galerie 1. Paris, 2018, p. 291, fig. 10 (color; on display in Picasso’s studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph by the artist, December 1912).
Anne Lemonnier inThe Cubist Cosmos: From Picasso to Léger. Ed. Brigitte Leal, Christian Briend, and Ariane Coulondre. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Munich, 2019, p. 291, fig. 10 (on display in Picasso's studio at 242, boulevard Raspail, Paris; photograph by the artist, December 1912) [German ed., Munich, 2019].
Emily Braun in Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowling. Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2022, pp. 158, 247, colorpl. 25.
Elizabeth Cowling in Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowling. Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2022, pp. 113, 259 nn. 7, 8.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
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