The Watering Place (Horses Bathing) (L'Abreuvoir [Chevaux au bain]) from the Saltimbanques series

The Watering Place (Horses Bathing) (L'Abreuvoir [Chevaux au bain]) from the Saltimbanques series by Pablo Picasso is an important early graphic work created in 1906. Executed in drypoint, the plate was completed during the Spanish artist’s transitional period, often referred to as the Rose Period, though this specific impression was published seven years later in 1913.

The piece deviates slightly from the core subject matter of the Saltimbanques series-the itinerant performers and circus families that obsessed Picasso at the time. Instead, the focus is placed on a pastoral scene rendered with classical simplicity. The composition depicts large, powerful horses receiving a bath, their monumental forms filling the frame. Picasso treats the animal figures with a quiet dignity, emphasizing strong contours and volumetric mass, echoing the influence of ancient sculpture and Renaissance masters.

The choice of drypoint, a technique where the artist scratches directly into the plate with a needle, allowed Picasso to achieve a delicate yet robust quality of line. The resulting burr holds the ink, creating the characteristic soft, velvety edges seen throughout the prints in this series. This medium suited the subject, providing both the definition necessary to convey the horses’ muscular structure and the atmospheric softness surrounding them.

This work exemplifies the Spanish master’s early engagement with printmaking, establishing the technical foundations he would later expand upon throughout his career. Although created just prior to his revolutionary shift toward Cubism, this drypoint maintains a tether to figuration and poetic narrative. As a key early modern print, the work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).