At the Lapin Agile

Au Lapin Agile (English: At the Lapin Agile) is a 1905 oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It depicts the interior of the Lapin Agile, a famous cabaret club in the Montmartre area of Paris. The composition was produced during Picasso's Rose Period and includes a self-portrait of the artist who frequented the club in his youth. The painting is listed as one of the most expensive paintings after achieving a price of $40.7 million at Sotheby's auction on 27 November 1989. It is housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Background This painting was produced in 1905, just a few years after the young Picasso and his friend Carles Casagemas settled in Paris in 1900. Not only did they find a new social circle in the artists of Montmartre, but they also became acquainted with a married seamstress named Germaine Pichot. Casagemas became obsessed with Pichot and relentlessly pursued her, but his affections were never returned. Picasso and his friends frequented a local cabaret club known as the Lapin Agile, where they drank and exchanged ideas with other artists. On 17 February 1901, during an evening drink with friends, Casagemas shot at Pichot with a revolver and then shot himself in the head. Picasso was greatly affected by the death of his friend and this tragic event is considered to be the major catalyst for the onset of Picasso's Blue Period. However, despite this emotional trauma, Picasso had an affair with Pichot after the event. In 1905, he was asked by the owner of the Lapin Agile, Frédéric Gérard, to produce a painting that would be hung inside. Picasso agreed in exchange for free food and drinks and created Au Lapin Agile at the age of 25. Description Au Lapin Agile depicts a melancholy image of a couple sitting at a bar inside the Lapin Agile. The composition is simple, with little background detail, except for the presence of the bar upon which the couple stand their drinks and the small stage at the rear. The painting features three figures, a harlequin in the foreground, a woman sitting next to him wearing an orange dress and a feather boa, and a guitarist playing in the background. Picasso conveys a sombre scene by primarily using murky reddish-brown hues. The style of this painting is reminiscent of the works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The painting depicts figures from Picasso's personal life during this period.