Three Heads of Men (Trois têtes d'hommes)
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973
1931
An etching in which Picasso reduces three male heads—a bearded central figure flanked by two idealized profiles—to economical, flowing contour lines that recast classical motifs in a modern register.
What strikes you is the calm, sculptural clarity: a bearded central face sketched with sinuous, textured lines between two serene profiles, contained by a faint rectangular frame and echoed by a ghostly reclining nude lightly traced in the lower right of the sheet.
Executed during Picasso’s 1930s engagement with antiquity, this print demonstrates how he transformed classical sculpture into spare, expressive line, helping to reshape modern art’s conversation with the past.
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 6 x 6 15/16" (15.2 x 17.6 cm); sheet: 13 x 10 1/8" (33 x 25.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Zimmerman
Accession
1169.1969
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
