Picasso painted two versions of “Three Musicians.” Both were completed in the summer of 1921 in Fontainebleau, near Paris, and are major examples of his Synthetic Cubist style.
The paintings show three masked or costumed figures associated with the commedia dell’arte: Pierrot, Harlequin, and a monk. Picasso worked on the two canvases at the same time, but they are not identical. The Museum of Modern Art version includes a largely hidden dog beneath the table, while the Philadelphia Museum of Art version has different instrument positions, colors, and figure arrangements.
The two paintings are sometimes confused with reproductions or preparatory studies, but they are separate finished canvases. The darker MoMA version is generally the better-known image. The figures are often interpreted as portraits in disguise: Guillaume Apollinaire as Pierrot, Picasso as Harlequin, and Max Jacob as the monk. Both works were reunited in a 2023 MoMA exhibition.