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The Minotaur

A work made of pen and brush and black ink and brush and gray wash on blue wove paper.
© 2018 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of pen and brush and black ink and brush and gray wash on blue wove paper.

Date:

June 24, 1933

Artist:

Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881-1973

About this artwork

This violent drawing captures a half-man, half-bull Minotaur raping a woman. The figure of the Minotaur dates back to Greek mythology: it inhabited a labyrinth, devoured innocent people, and was ultimately slain by the hero Theseus. In the 1930s, when Picasso made this work, people understood the Minotaur as a manifestation of unconscious and uncontrolled desire. Despite the horror of such imagery, the beast in some ways may have embodied Picasso’s own self-perception as a womanizer.

Status

On View, Gallery 124B

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Pablo Picasso

Title

The Minotaur

Place

Spain (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1933

Medium

Pen and brush and black ink and brush and gray wash on blue wove paper

Inscriptions

Signed recto, lower right, in pen and black ink: "Picasso" (underlined); inscribed lower right, in pen and black ink: "24 juin XXXIII L Boisgeloup"; inscribed verso, lower right, in graphite: "Henry Kleemann / January 1943"; along right edge, in graphite: "Tendu sur carton depassant 1 cm tout autour"

Dimensions

48 × 63 cm (18 15/16 × 24 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Margaret Day Blake Collection

Reference Number

1967.516

Copyright

© 2018 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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