The Poet

The Poet (1911) by Pablo Picasso represents the peak of Analytic Cubism. This oil on linen canvas measures 131.2 x 89.5 cm and hangs in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Picasso painted this work in August 1911 while collaborating closely with Georges Braque in the French Pyrenees. The degree of abstraction is so extreme that the human figure has been visually dissected and reconstructed almost beyond recognition. Only the title confirms we are looking at a person.

The composition features a central pyramidal figure densely articulated within interpenetrating facets. Picasso presents multiple views of each element simultaneously, as if he had moved around the subject, then synthesized these perspectives into a single compound image. The restrained color palette reflects the intellectual rigor of this collaborative period with Braque. Peggy Guggenheim acquired this work before 1948, when she displayed her collection at the Venice Biennale.