Image: Image reproduction rights managed by Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; institutional source link provided
View source →Pablo Picasso, June 24, 1933
Medium
Pen and brush and black ink and brush and gray wash on blue wove paper
Dimensions
48 × 63 cm (18 15/16 × 24 13/16 in.)
Style
Surrealist-influenced modernism
Decade
1930s
The official Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois record identifies The Minotaur as a Pablo Picasso pen and ink drawings, dated June 24, 1933, in Pen and brush and black ink and brush and gray wash on blue wove paper. This violent drawing captures a half-man, half-bull Minotaur raping a woman. The figure of the Minotaur dates back to Greek mythology: it inhabited a labyrinth, devoured innocent people, and was ultimately slain by the hero Theseus. In the 1930s, when Picasso made this work, people understood the Minotaur as a manifestation of unconscious and uncontrolled desire. Despite the horror of such imagery, the beast in some ways may have embodied Picasso’s own self-perception as a womanizer.
The Minotaur is grouped under Surrealist Period for gallery navigation using the date published by Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. This period label provides high-level art-historical orientation and does not supersede the primary collection record. The institutional credit line is: Margaret Day Blake Collection.
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Public Collection — Open to visitors
Visit museum website →2026 Estimated Value
Public collection / market value not asserted
* 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
Continue Exploring
Chosen for shared style, era, medium, subject, or date.
Abstraction: Background with Blue Cloudy Sky
January 4, 1930 · same style · same era
Minotaur Caressing Sleeping Woman, from the Vollard Suite
June 18, 1933, printed and published 1939 · same style · same era
Minotaur and Wounded Horse
April 17, 1935 · same style · same era
Double Flute Player and Reclining Nude
October 22, 1932 · same style · same era
Blind Minotaur Led by Little Girl with Flowers, from the Vollard Suite
September 22, 1934, printed 1939 · same style · same era
The Embrace III, from the Vollard Suite
April 23, 1933, printed and published 1939 · same style · same era
If you love this surrealist period masterpiece, explore these curated books and resources on Amazon.
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The Weeping Woman Art Print
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Picasso: A Life Documentary
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