Boy with a Pipe
Picasso's 1905 portrait of a Montmartre boy, seated in blue workman's clothes with a garland of roses on his head and a pipe in his left hand, against a wall of painted flowers. A Rose Period picture that in 2004 became, for a time, the most expensive painting ever sold at auction.
- 1905
- Oil on canvas
About Pablo Picasso
What the painting shows
A young man sits facing the viewer in loose blue coveralls, a garland of roses resting on his head and a pipe held loosely in his left hand. Behind him a reddish wall carries two painted bouquets, so the figure seems set against flowers rather than in a room.
The mood is quiet and slightly withdrawn. The boy does not perform for the viewer; he sits with the stillness of someone waiting, and the flowers give the picture a softness unusual even for the Rose Period.
A Rose Period picture
Pablo Picasso painted it in 1905, at twenty-four, while living at Le Bateau-Lavoir, the run-down artists' building in Montmartre. The work belongs to his Rose Period, when the cold blues and beggars of the preceding years gave way to warmer tones and to circus and studio subjects.
The garland and the flowered ground are the sentimental note, and not everyone has admired them. The picture's tenderness is the same quality that later divided its critics.
The boy called P'tit Louis
The model was a local boy who hung around the studio, remembered by the nickname "P'tit Louis." He was one of several neighborhood figures Picasso drew and painted in these Montmartre years rather than a hired professional model.
Little else about him is documented, which is part of the painting's hold: a specific Parisian child, named only by a nickname, fixed at the point between boyhood and whatever came next.
The 2004 sale
John Hay Whitney and his wife bought the painting in 1950 for about thirty thousand dollars. On 5 May 2004 the Whitney estate's foundation sent it to Sotheby's in New York, where it sold for $104,168,000 including the buyer's premium.
That price set an auction record for any painting at the time. The buyer stayed anonymous, and the work returned to a private collection, which is where it remains.
Admired and doubted
The sale sharpened an old disagreement about the picture's worth. Some critics treat it as one of Picasso's most affecting early images; others regard it as minor Picasso whose fame owes more to the market than to the work.
Both readings start from the same softness. The garland of roses that makes the painting so appealing is also what makes some viewers distrust it, and the record price only raised the stakes of the argument.
Timeline
1905
Picasso painted the portrait at Le Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, during his Rose Period.
1950
John Hay Whitney and his wife bought the painting for about thirty thousand dollars.
2004
Sold at Sotheby's in New York for $104,168,000, an auction record for a painting at the time; the buyer remained anonymous.
Frequently asked questions
What is Boy with a Pipe?
A 1905 oil painting by Pablo Picasso, from his Rose Period, showing a Montmartre boy in blue clothes with a garland of roses and a pipe, against a wall of painted flowers. Its French title is Garçon à la pipe.
Who is the boy in the painting?
A local Montmartre boy remembered by the nickname "P'tit Louis," who spent time around Picasso's studio at Le Bateau-Lavoir. He was a neighborhood model rather than a professional sitter, and little else about him is recorded.
Why is it called a Rose Period work?
It dates from 1905, when Picasso moved away from the cold blues and destitute subjects of his Blue Period toward warmer pinks and reds and gentler studio and circus themes. Boy with a Pipe is one of the best-known pictures of that shift.
How much did it sell for?
It sold at Sotheby's in New York on 5 May 2004 for $104,168,000 including the buyer's premium — an auction record for a painting at the time. The buyer was not named, and the work went to a private collection.
Where is Boy with a Pipe now?
In a private collection. It has not been on regular public view since the 2004 sale, and the owner has not been publicly identified.
Why do some critics dislike it?
The garland of roses and the flowered background give the painting a sweetness that some find sentimental. Critics who call it a minor work argue that its record price reflects the market rather than the picture's place in Picasso's career.
