The Horseman (Le Cavalier) from the series Four Lithographs (Quatre lithographies)

The Horseman (Le Cavalier) from the series Four Lithographs (Quatre lithographies) is a significant print created by Pablo Picasso in 1921. Executed as a lithograph, this Spanish work demonstrates Picasso’s sustained interest in graphic arts and reproduction techniques during the interwar period. The specific printing process allowed for a unique textural quality, often emphasizing the stark contrast between the simplified forms and the background, contributing to the classical solidity of the figure.

The subject of the horseman fits squarely within the monumental style that Picasso explored intensely in the early 1920s. Following the cessation of World War I, many European artists sought refuge in classical ideals, focusing on durable forms, weighty figures, and mythic or historical subjects, a movement often termed the “return to order.” Picasso rendered the figure in The Horseman (Le Cavalier) with the simplified musculature and stark, often outlined contours characteristic of this shift away from the fragmented geometry of Cubism towards Neoclassicism. The print embodies a sense of quiet authority and stable volume, emphasizing eternal form rather than fleeting modernity.

While the composition for this specific work originated in 1921, the entire series, Quatre lithographies, was published later, between 1923 and 1928. This time gap highlights the complex publishing processes by which Picasso's prints circulated. As a definitive example of his mastery of the lithograph medium during this key transitional moment in his career, the work resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.