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Student Artwork Guide

The Harem

Pablo Picasso, 1906

Name Class Date
Pablo Picasso, The Harem (1906). Reproduced for reference; rights reserved by the rights holder. See this canvas under a moving light: the drawing, the true colour under the varnish, the bare pigment

The facts

Artist
Pablo Picasso wahooart.com/en/artists/pablo-picasso/
Artist’s dates
1881 – 1973
Painted
1906
Medium
Oil On Canvas
Original size
154 x 109 cm
Movement
Neo-Figurative Art
Period
Modern
Artistic style
Expressionist
Influences
Pechstein, Matisse
Notable elements
Nude figures, couch
Subject or theme
Intimate setting

Copyright This work is still under copyright. Pablo Picasso died in 1973; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it remains in force until 2043. The image is shown here for classroom reference; rights remain with the rights holder.

Source: WahooArt.com — accessed Oct. 11, 2026

The Harem — Pablo Picasso Part 1 · The artwork

In context

The Harem — Pablo Picasso

How big is it?

The original measures 154 × 109 cm (height × width), drawn here beside an adult of average height.

When was this painted?

  1. 1880
  2. 1890
  3. 1900
  4. 1910
  5. 1920
  6. 1930
  7. 1940
  8. 1950
  9. 1960
  10. 1970

Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 92 at death.

Painted when the artist was 25. The artist lived to 92. 244 of the 1098 dated works by this artist in our catalogue came earlier.

Shaded: the lifetime of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) ▲ this work, 1906 every dated painting, decade by decade

First works: up to 1906 Main working years: 1906–1939 Late works: from 1939

Those three bands split the works this catalogue has a date for into a first quarter, a middle half and a last quarter. They are not the artist’s complete output: a thin stretch may be a gap in the record rather than a quiet spell. The same years with the artist’s life laid along them

Compare with

Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.

More works to set beside this one: wahooart.com/en/art/similar/pablo-picasso-the-harem-8EWNP2-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

    Main colour

    Clay #a2553d

    Catalogued palette

    • #A2553D
    • #BD7A57
    • #D1956E
    • #DDB299

    These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour

    Palette
    Earthy The dominant colour family in the image.
    Main colour name
    Clay
    Intensity
    Vivid How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
    Contrast
    Serene How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
    Harmony
    Unified Palette How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
    Brightness
    Brilliant How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
    Saturation
    Clear Color Presence How pure and strong the colours are, from near-grey to fully vivid.

    Where in the world is this painting looked at?

    • under 1%
    • 1–3%
    • 3–8%
    • 8–20%
    • 20% and over
    This painting alone has too few recorded visitors to map, so the plate reads every work by Pablo Picasso over the last twelve months — 110 countries in all. Where these figures come from

    The ten leading countries

    1. 1 China 34.3%159,300 visits
    2. 2 United States of America 7.1%32,800 visits
    3. 3 France 4.8%22,100 visits
    4. 4 Italy 4.7%21,600 visits
    5. 5 Germany 4.4%20,200 visits
    6. 6 Spain 4.0%18,500 visits
    7. 7 Japan 2.8%12,900 visits
    8. 8 Brazil 2.3%10,800 visits
    9. 9 India 1.9%8,800 visits
    10. 10 Mexico 1.7%8,100 visits
    11. · 100 other countries 32.0%149,000 visits

    Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.

    The 20 most looked-at works by Pablo Picasso

    1. 1 Guernica, 1937 10.1%77,900 visits
    2. 2 Three Musicians, 1921 8.7%67,300 visits
    3. 3 The Young Ladies of Avignon, 1907 3.4%26,000 visits
    4. 4 Portrait of Ambroise Vollard, 1910 2.1%16,500 visits
    5. 5 A boy with pipe, 1905 1.6%12,400 visits
    6. 6 Two women running on the beach (The race), 1922 1.3%9,800 visits
    7. 7 Self-Portrait, 1906 0.9%7,100 visits
    8. 8 Friendship, 1908 0.7%5,600 visits
    9. 9 Women of Algiers (Version O), 1955 0.7%5,500 visits
    10. 10 La Vie (Life), 1903 0.6%4,400 visits
    11. 11 Guitar player, 1910 0.6%4,300 visits
    12. 12 Mediterranean Landscape, 1952 0.6%4,300 visits
    13. 13 Woman with book, 1932 0.5%3,600 visits
    14. 14 Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937 0.5%3,500 visits
    15. 15 Child with dove, 1901 0.5%3,500 visits
    16. 16 Sabartes, 1901 0.4%3,400 visits
    17. 17 Saltimbanques (The Family of Saltimbanques), 1905 0.4%3,200 visits
    18. 18 Bull (plate X), 1946 0.4%3,200 visits
    19. 19 The Three Musicians, 1921 0.4%3,000 visits
    20. 476 The Harem, 1906 this painting 0.0%300 visits

    Together these works take 34.4% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 2304 works by this artist, of which 1579 were looked at at least once. This painting ranks 476 of them, with 0.0% of that attention (300 visits). The same counts, month by month

    Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.

    Source: WahooArt.com — accessed Oct. 11, 2026

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso Part 2 · In context

    About this artwork

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso

    A Glimpse into a Private World: The Genesis of "The Harem"

    Pablo Picasso’s “The Harem,” painted in 1906, isn't merely a depiction of women; it’s an immersion into a carefully constructed atmosphere—a private sanctuary rendered with the raw energy and emotional intensity characteristic of his burgeoning expressionist style. Born in Málaga, Spain, Picasso was already a force to be reckoned with, having swiftly moved beyond academic training to forge a distinctly personal vision. This particular work emerged during a pivotal period in his artistic evolution, following the introspective mood of his Blue Period and preceding the revolutionary fragmentation of Cubism. The painting’s creation coincided with a trip to Spain alongside his lover, Fernande Olivier, offering Picasso a chance to reconnect with his homeland and its traditions – a connection that profoundly influenced his work.

    The scene unfolds within a modestly furnished room—a couch, a chair, and a scattering of objects like bowls and vases. Yet, it’s not the literal arrangement that captivates, but rather Picasso's masterful manipulation of form and color. He abandons the cool, muted palette of his earlier Blue Period, embracing instead a warmer, more sensual range—a deliberate shift signaling a move towards exploring themes of desire, intimacy, and perhaps even a hint of underlying tension. The figures themselves are not rendered with photographic realism; they’re distorted, fragmented, and imbued with an almost palpable energy. Picasso employs bold, gestural brushstrokes, layering color and creating a sense of movement that draws the viewer into the heart of the scene.

    Neo-Figurative Roots: A Reaction Against Abstraction

    “The Harem” firmly places itself within the burgeoning Neo-Figurative art movement—a fascinating counterpoint to the prevailing abstract expressionism of the time. While abstract expressionists sought to convey emotion through pure form and color, Picasso’s approach retains a recognizable figuration, albeit profoundly transformed. This movement represented a deliberate return to representational imagery, but with a crucial twist: artists like Picasso deliberately distorted and fragmented their subjects, injecting them with an element of psychological intensity. The painting isn't simply about a harem; it’s about the emotions, desires, and power dynamics that might exist within such a space.

    Picasso’s use of color is particularly significant in this context. He employs vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows—colors often associated with passion, desire, and even danger—to create a sense of heightened emotion. The figures are not presented as idealized beauties; they possess a raw, almost unsettling quality. Their bodies are rendered with an expressive distortion that suggests vulnerability, strength, or perhaps a complex mixture of both. This deliberate ambiguity invites the viewer to project their own interpretations onto the scene.

    Echoes of Influences: Pechstein and Matisse

    Picasso’s artistic journey was never undertaken in isolation. He was deeply influenced by a diverse range of artists, including the German expressionist Hermann Max Pechstein. Pechstein's work, characterized by its bold colors and emotionally charged figures, shared with Picasso a commitment to conveying subjective experience through distorted forms. Notably, Pechstein’s integration into Die Brücke in 1906—a group known for its radical experimentation—reflects the broader artistic currents of the time. Furthermore, Picasso's engagement with Henri Matisse’s Fauvist style – particularly his use of intense color and simplified forms – is evident in “The Harem.” Matisse’s influence encouraged Picasso to push the boundaries of color and form, contributing to the painting’s vibrant intensity.

    A Window into a Complex Narrative: Symbolism and Interpretation

    Beyond its formal qualities, "The Harem" invites numerous interpretations. The presence of a man holding a flower and a porrón (a type of drinking vessel) suggests a dynamic interplay between power and intimacy. The porrón, with its phallic shape, could symbolize male dominance or perhaps the potential for conflict within the group. The arrangement of the women around the furniture creates an intimate atmosphere, but also hints at a complex social hierarchy. Picasso’s deliberate ambiguity leaves much open to interpretation, inviting viewers to engage with the painting on a deeply personal level.

    AllPaintingsStore offers meticulously crafted hand-painted reproductions of “The Harem,” allowing you to experience the full impact of this iconic masterpiece in stunning detail. Explore our collection and bring this captivating work of art into your home or office today. Learn more about Pablo Picasso: The Harem at AllPaintingsStore.

    Source: WahooArt.com — accessed Oct. 11, 2026

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso Part 3 · About this artwork

    Artist and museum

    Artist

    Pablo Picasso

    Born in Malaga, Spain

    The boy from Málaga

    A child's first words in Málaga were “piz, piz,” a small attempt at saying pencil. This early pull toward the lead and paper was nurtured by his father, José Ruiz y Blasco, who taught him the basics of figure drawing and oil painting. The boy learned to copy the masters and draw from plaster casts under a disciplined eye. As he grew, the family moved through A Coruña and Barcelona. These years were marked by the quiet weight of loss, particularly the death of his sister, Conchita, from diphtheria when she was only seven. Such shadows would later find their way into the heavy, blue-green tones of his early work.

    By thirteen, he was already taking entrance exams for advanced classes in Barcelona, finishing in a week what took others a month. His hands moved with a precision that even his father noticed, once seeing him paint over an unfinished sketch of a pigeon with such accuracy that the instructor realized the student had surpassed him. He eventually moved to Paris, a city where he would spend much of his adult life, constantly shifting his focus from one way of seeing to another.

    Shifting palettes and fractured forms

    The early twentieth century saw his work move through distinct phases of color and mood. There was the Blue Period, where the canvases were filled with beggars, the blind, and the lonely, rendered in somber shades of blue. This gave way to the Rose Period, a time when pinks, oranges, and reds appeared, often featuring the figures of circus performers like harlequins and acrobats. These years showed a man reacting to his own life and the world around him through the temperature of his palette.

    In 1907, the way he handled space changed fundamentally with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Influenced by African masks and Iberian sculpture, he began to break objects into geometric shapes. Alongside Georges Braque, he developed Cubism. This involved two main stages:

    Analytic Cubism: A method of fragmenting objects into muted, geometric pieces as if dissecting the form itself.

    Synthetic Cubism: An approach that brought in collage elements like newspaper clippings and fabric scraps to add texture and new layers.

    A life of constant change

    His work never settled into a single way of being. He explored Neoclassicism with large, monumental figures and later engaged with the imagery of Surrealism, using distorted perspectives to tap into the subconscious. The violence of the Spanish Civil War left its mark on his canvas in 1937 through Guernica. This large oil painting used a stark palette of black, white, and grey to show the suffering of a bombed town, featuring a gored horse, a bull, and screaming women. It remains a heavy, monochromatic response to the chaos of war.

    In his later years, he continued to experiment with ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking. He even created large-scale public works, such as the 1967 steel sculpture in Chicago, which was inspired by the head of his Afghan Hound, Kabul. He died in Mougins, France, leaving behind a massive collection of work that spans over seventy-six years of experimentation.

    Where to read more

    Find this online

    QR code linking to the download page for The Harem

    wahooart.com/en/art/download/pablo-picasso-the-harem-8EWNP2-en/

    Cite this artwork

    MLA
    Picasso, Pablo. The Harem. 1906, https://wahooart.com/en/art/pablo-picasso-the-harem-8EWNP2-en/
    APA
    Picasso, Pablo (1906). The Harem [Painting]. https://wahooart.com/en/art/pablo-picasso-the-harem-8EWNP2-en/
    Chicago
    Pablo Picasso. The Harem. 1906. https://wahooart.com/en/art/pablo-picasso-the-harem-8EWNP2-en/
    Harvard
    Picasso, Pablo (1906) The Harem. Available at: https://wahooart.com/en/art/pablo-picasso-the-harem-8EWNP2-en/

    Source: WahooArt.com — accessed Oct. 11, 2026

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso Part 4 · Artist and museum

    Look closely

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso

    Look closely

    Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.

    1. What catches your eye first, and why?
    2. Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
    3. Our catalogue files this work under: nude women, harem, intimacy. Do you agree? What would you add, or take away?
    4. Look back at Guernica (1937), earlier in this guide. Name two things it shares with this work, and one that is different.
    5. Pablo Picasso was about 25 when this was made. What in it looks like the work of an artist at that stage?

    Your response

    Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.

    Source: WahooArt.com — accessed Oct. 11, 2026

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso Part 5 · Look closely

    Art quiz

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso

    How well do you know this artwork?

    Tick one answer for each of the 5 questions below. Each has exactly one correct answer.

    1. 1. What artistic movement is "The Harem" primarily associated with?

      • A Surrealism
      • B Neo-Figurative Art
      • C Impressionism

    2. 2. In the painting "The Harem", what is the primary function of the couch and chair?

      • A To provide a luxurious setting for the women.
      • B To create an intimate atmosphere within the scene.
      • C To serve as a backdrop for the figures.

    3. 3. What color palette is most prominent in "The Harem"?

      • A Cool blues and greens
      • B Warm reds and oranges
      • C Neutral grays and whites

    4. 4. Which artist significantly influenced Picasso's style during the creation of "The Harem"?

      • A Henri Matisse
      • B Vincent van Gogh
      • C Claude Monet

    5. 5. Approximately when was "The Harem" painted?

      • A 1901-1904 (Blue Period)
      • B 1906
      • C 1937 (Guernica)

    My score: ____ out of 5

    Answer key — for the teacher

    This starts a fresh printed page, so it can simply be left out of the copies.

    1B · 2B · 3B · 4A · 5B

    Check any answer against the catalogue record for this painting

    Source: WahooArt.com — accessed Oct. 11, 2026

    The Harem — Pablo Picasso Part 6 · Art quiz

    Questions & Answers

    What technique and size is the original "The Harem" by Pablo Picasso?

    "The Harem" was made in oil on canvas and measures 154 x 109 cm in its original form.

    How is "The Harem" situated historically?

    "The Harem" by Pablo Picasso belongs to the Neo-Figurative Art movement, within the Modern period. Together they give the work its place in art history.

    Is "The Harem" by Pablo Picasso a painting, a drawing or a print?

    In the catalog, "The Harem" by Pablo Picasso is filed as wall art. The category helps find similar works.