Picasso painted The Three Musicians in 1921.
Picasso created two large paintings titled Three Musicians during the summer of 1921 in Fontainebleau, near Paris. Both are major examples of Synthetic Cubism, a phase characterized by flatter shapes, strong colour areas and compositions resembling assembled paper cut-outs. One version is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, while the other belongs to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The three figures wear theatrical or symbolic costumes: a Pierrot, a Harlequin and a monk. They are often interpreted as references to Picasso and his friends Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob. The interpretation is suggestive rather than a literal identification, but the painting’s links to Picasso’s artistic circle are a key part of its story.
The two versions can cause confusion because they differ in colour, details and composition, yet both were completed in the same year. The work is also sometimes listed under titles such as Musicians with Masks or Musicians in Masks. The dates 1912 and 1915 belong to earlier Cubist phases, while 1921 is the accepted date for both paintings.