Pablo Picasso’s “Pierrot” from 1918 is a product of the artist’s infatuation with the commedia dell’arte. Discussing the work in the context of Picasso’s collaboration with the Ballets Russes and his sojourn in Italy at the end of World War I, curator Joachim Homann reflects on the power of this drawing to capture the spirit of its time—and its resonance today. TAKE A CLOSER LOOK: + Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Spanish, “Pierrot,” 1918. Graphite on off-white wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Meta and Paul J. Sachs, 1965.317. © Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. https://hvrd.art/o/296540. + Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Spanish, "Pierrot," Paris 1918. Oil on Canvas. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 12.1952. © 2018 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78427. + Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Spanish, “The Glass,” 1914. Charcoal on tan wove paper, darkened. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, The Lois Orswell Collection, 1998.285. © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. https://hvrd.art/o/312361. + Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Spanish, "Head of a Man with a Hat,” 1912. Papier collé. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Virginia Deknatel in memory of Frederick B. Deknatel, 1979.18. © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. https://hvrd.art/o/299935. + Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Spanish, “The Bathers,” 1918. Graphite on cream wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Paul J. Sachs, Class of 1900: A testimonial to my friend W. G. Russell Allen, 1965.319. © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. https://hvrd.art/o/296394. + Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, French, “Portrait of Madame Charles Hayard,” c. 1812. Alternate Title: “Portrait of Madame Hayard, née Jeanne Suzanne Alliou.” Graphite on white wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Paul J. Sachs, Class of 1900, "a testimonial to my friend Grenville L. Winthrop," 1965.298. https://hvrd.art/o/296174. --- Speaker: Joachim Homann, Maida and George Abrams Curator of Drawings, Division of European and American Art. All works by Pablo Picasso © 2018 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Recorded Thursday, January 28, 2021. © President and Fellows of Harvard College. Video: Joachim Homann. For questions related to permission for commercial use of this video, please contact the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources at am_divr@harvard.edu