Created in 1964, this color lithograph is based on an original work done in colored pencil from the same year. Featured on the cover for the French newspaper, Le Patriote for their January 1964 issue. This work is hand signed in the lower right margin by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in green crayon and signed in the stone 'Picasso | 12.1.64' in black in the lower left. This work is numbered from the edition of 200 in pencil in the lower left margin.

The large scale of this piece, coupled with vivid color and rich details, combines to create a spectacular work. The painterly quality of this piece is most clearly evident in the gentle detailing around the face of the clown. Brilliantly colored with vibrantly saturated hues, this work captures the essence of the artist's use of divided light and pure color. Executed in a portrait-style manner, this piece is light and refreshing, jovial and contemplative-it delights our senses and enchants our imaginations. This work is in wonderful condition with rich and saturated colors. Full of luminous and vivid colors, Harlequin depicts a clown in a mythic and nymph-like environment. Filled with ethereal details and organic elements, this piece embodies a Renaissance feel with a distinctively modern sensibility.

Documentation:

1. The Picasso Project. Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco, 2002. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 64-015 on pg. 5.

About the Framing:

Conservation framed with museum quality archival materials, this work is set in a remarkable 19th Century style gold frame with robust vegetal motif. The brilliancy of the gold tone in the moulding accentuates the rich and beautiful colors of the work. The elegant sculptural detailing in the framing compliments the painterly quality of this piece without detracting from the image. Completed with white, linen wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet, this work is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.