Description

Neither this poster nor its motif have been reproduced in other posters. In the composition of this poster, Picasso combined a calligraphic drawing with cheerful, tortuous and baroque lines, as if it were graffiti, with a text that is half written and half drawn in an informal and agile hand.

The drawing on the poster shows, with the Master’s usual irony and delightful humour, a party scene in which we see three half-naked figures, intertwined, dancing and playing musical instruments. It looks like a carnival troupe. The two characters holding tambourines at the ends seem to be men and the one in the centre a woman. In fact, the opening of a painting exhibition should be a party, an excuse for everyone present to have fun. Was Picasso trying to suggest this “happening” in his conception of the poster? Picasso later designed the calligraphy of the written text that is in harmony with the lines of the drawing.