Sleeping Peasants
Pablo Picasso, 1919
Technical Details
Medium
Tempera, watercolor, and pencil on paper
Dimensions
31.1 × 48.9 cm (12.2 × 19.3 in)
Style
Neoclassicism
Decade
1910s
About This Work
Sleeping Peasants depicts a man and a woman asleep in a field, their massive, sculptural bodies intertwined in a pose of complete relaxation. The figures are rendered with the monumental simplicity of Picasso's Neoclassical style — their forms simplified to essential volumes, their faces peaceful in sleep. The work is a celebration of the physical life of the peasantry, rendered with a tenderness and dignity that recalls Millet.
Painted in 1919, Sleeping Peasants belongs to the series of large-figure compositions that Picasso made in the years immediately after World War I. The Neoclassical style — with its emphasis on monumental, simplified forms — was Picasso's contribution to the post-war 'call to order' in French art.
Current Location
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
Public Collection — Open to visitors
Visit museum website →Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
$15–25 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
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