The Two Acrobats (Les Deux saltimbanques) from the Saltimbanques series

The Two Acrobats (Les Deux saltimbanques) from the Saltimbanques series by Pablo Picasso is a seminal drypoint print created in 1905. This Spanish artist produced the original composition during his early Rose Period, a pivotal phase characterized by a shift from the stark emotionalism of the Blue Period toward warmer tones and subjects focusing on traveling circus performers, harlequins, and itinerant life.

The work depicts two isolated figures, a young girl and a slightly older male acrobat, standing in a barren space. Picasso’s handling of the figures emphasizes their melancholy yet stoic grace, transforming the saltimbanques into allegorical representations of artistic isolation and human vulnerability.

In executing this image, Picasso utilized the demanding intaglio technique of drypoint. Unlike etching, drypoint involves scratching the design directly onto a copper plate with a sharp needle, creating microscopic metal burrs along the edges of the lines. When the plate is inked, these burrs hold a greater quantity of ink, producing the rich, distinctive velvety quality and blurred edges visible in the lines of the performers' costumes and contours. Although the composition was conceived in 1905, the final prints were editioned and published in 1913, confirming the significance of this design in the artist’s graphic oeuvre.

This print exemplifies Picasso’s deep engagement with early 20th-century figurative modernism. The quiet emotional depth and restrained composition mark it as a key transition piece leading into the artist’s later groundbreaking stylistic shifts. The Two Acrobats is classified as a print within the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where it serves as a crucial document of Picasso’s foundational years.