Image: Musée National Picasso-Paris / Public Domain
View source →Paul on a Donkey
Pablo Picasso, 1923
Technical Details
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
100.5 × 81 cm (39.6 × 31.9 in)
Style
Neoclassicism
Decade
1920s
About This Work
Paul on a Donkey depicts Picasso's young son Paulo dressed in a harlequin costume and riding a small donkey. The painting is one of the most charming and intimate works of Picasso's Neoclassical period, capturing the joy and innocence of childhood with a tenderness that is rare in his work. The harlequin costume — a recurring motif in Picasso's work — connects the child to the world of circus and theater.
Painted in 1923, Paul on a Donkey is one of a series of portraits of Paulo that Picasso made throughout the 1920s. Paulo was Picasso's son with Olga Khokhlova, born in 1921. The harlequin costume connects Paulo to the saltimbanque figures of Picasso's Rose Period, suggesting a continuity between the artist's personal life and his artistic mythology.
Current Location
Musée National Picasso-Paris, Paris, France
Public Collection — Open to visitors
Visit museum website →Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
$20–35 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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