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Youth in an Archway

1906
Not on view
Most authors trace this figure and pose to antiquity, seeing the youth as a type of kouros: the static, monumental Greek sculptures of athletic young men associated with the cult of Apollo. However, the pose was more likely a memory of Michelangelo (himself deeply inspired by antiquity), whose Dying Slave at the Musée du Louvre fascinated countless artists, including Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse, both of whom were of special interest to Picasso at precisely this moment. Indeed, in the art of Cézanne and Matisse, Picasso found encouragement to explore the expressivity of the nude figure independent of the trappings of everyday life.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Youth in an Archway
  • Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Date: 1906
  • Medium: Conté crayon on paper
  • Dimensions: 23 1/4 x 16 3/4 in. (59.1 x 42.5 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982
  • Object Number: 1984.433.273
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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