Costume design for the ballet Le Tricorne

Costume design for the ballet Le Tricorne, created by Pablo Picasso in 1920, exemplifies the artist’s rich engagement with Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Classified as an Illustrated Book, this specific piece is part of a significant portfolio documenting the highly celebrated ballet, which featured a Spanish theme and premiered in 1919. This period marks a key transitional moment in Picasso’s prolific career, as his theatrical designs often synthesized his ongoing experiments with Cubism alongside a renewed interest in classical figuration and line.

The work's classification as a print highlights the collaboration between the artist and expert printers to disseminate his designs. The piece is a collotype and pochoir, extracted from a larger portfolio of thirty-two collotypes, thirty-one of which received pochoir enhancement. Collotype is a demanding photomechanical process known for its ability to capture subtle tonal variations, faithfully reproducing Picasso’s original drawn texture. The pochoir technique, involving hand-stenciled application of color, provides the necessary vibrant saturation to convey the intended color and visual energy of the stage costumes. Creating fine prints using these methods was essential for documenting and circulating key theatrical and design achievements during the 1920s.

This graphic work provides vital insight into Picasso’s approach to stage design, demonstrating his capacity to translate three-dimensional character into compelling two-dimensional studies. By treating the costume almost architecturally, Picasso ensures the visual effectiveness of the figure under theatrical lighting. This impression is permanently housed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. As a published print created in 1920, the imagery related to Le Tricorne is widely studied and often circulated through collections that make historic art available in the public domain.