Image: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen / Public Domain
View source →Still Life with Bull's Skull
Pablo Picasso, 1942
Technical Details
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
130 × 97 cm (51.2 × 38.2 in)
Style
Cubism / Expressionism
Decade
1940s
About This Work
Still Life with Bull's Skull is one of Picasso's most powerful wartime still lifes, depicting a bull's skull on a table beside a candle, a book, and a leek. The skull — a traditional vanitas symbol — is rendered with extraordinary force, its empty eye sockets staring out at the viewer. The painting is a meditation on death and the fragility of culture in wartime.
Painted in April 1942 during the German occupation of Paris, Still Life with Bull's Skull belongs to a series of skull paintings that Picasso made during the war. The bull's skull — combining the traditional vanitas symbol with Picasso's personal bull symbolism — becomes a particularly charged image in the context of wartime.
Current Location
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Public Collection — Open to visitors
Visit museum website →Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
$40–60 million (est.)
* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.
Last Known Sale
No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection
Keywords
Continue Exploring
Related Artworks
Chosen for shared style, era, medium, subject, or date.
Woman Dressing Her Hair
1940 · same style · same era
Woman in a Garden (Femme au jardin)
1938 · same era · similar medium
Portrait of Dora Maar Seated
1937 · same era · similar medium
The Cock
1938 · same era · similar medium
Cat Catching a Bird
1939 · same era · similar medium
First Steps
1943 · same era · similar medium
Shop Related Products
If you love this wartime period masterpiece, explore these curated books and resources on Amazon.
Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica and the Masterpiece That Changed the World
The story behind one of Picasso's most iconic and political works
Guernica Print Poster
Museum-quality reproduction of Picasso's most famous anti-war painting
Picasso: The Man Who Changed Art
Documentary examining Picasso's revolutionary impact on modern art
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Each product link is unique to help us track which recommendations resonate most with our visitors.