Playing Cards, Glasses, Bottle of Rum: "Vive la France"
When France entered World War I in August 1914, Picasso, a Spanish national, was not required to serve. He expressed his patriotic sentiments for his adopted country by indirect allusion, as seen at left in the white souvenir cup with its crossed flags. Seemingly nothing is somber in this riotously colorful array, from the bottle of the raffia-encased La Negrita rum to the flocked wallpaper to the pear or pears at far right. Even the dotted vessel at center seems full of energy. Only the uncanny shadow of a bottle on the back wall casts a disquieting note.
Artwork Details
- Title: Playing Cards, Glasses, Bottle of Rum: "Vive la France"
- Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
- Date: 1914-15
- Medium: Oil and sand on canvas
- Dimensions: 20 1/2 × 25 in. (52.1 × 63.5 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2025
- Object Number: 2025.616.5
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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