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The Oil Mill

Horta de Ebro (present-day Horta de Sant Joan), summer 1909
Not on view
This landscape, depicting mountains in the distance, a river with a sailboat at midground, and a cluster of buildings in the foreground, was painted while Picasso was staying at the picturesque hilltop village of Horta de Ebro (present-day Horta de Sant Joan) in Catalonia. He reduced the already rudimentary structures of rural architecture to their geometric essences. The Oil Mill was one of the first Cubist images to be illustrated in the Italian press. After seeing it on the front page of the December 1911 issue of the Florentine journal La Voce, the Futurists were inspired to modernize their style and engage in a rivalry with their French peers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Oil Mill
  • Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Date: Horta de Ebro (present-day Horta de Sant Joan), summer 1909
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 15 × 18 in. (38.1 × 45.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2025
  • Object Number: 2025.616.25
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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