The college student, identifiable by his beret, reads a newspaper and clutches the dotted form of a bottle in the crook of his arm. The face—a dark triangle with white oval eyes, arched eyebrows, a curved mustache, and a toothy grin—was inspired by a Wobe mask from West Africa. Picasso reveled in the work’s multiple textures. The grit of the sand mixed into some of the paint catches the light, an effect repeated by the colorful dots that animate the surface. Students showed up en masse for the annual Carnival celebrations, which involved copious amounts of paper confetti. The spray of red dots on this student’s face hints at his inebriation, an interpretation supported by the inclusion of a bottle of alcohol and by the shortening of the newspaper masthead to “UR[I]NAL.”
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Inscription: Signed (verso, in black paint over gray paint): PICASSO [underlined]
[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, 1914; photo no. 363; sequestered Kahnweiler stock, December 12, 1914–21; second Kahnweiler sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, November 17–18, 1921, no. 204, as "Nature morte," sold for Fr 1,250, to Amédée Ozenfant, probably for La Roche]; Raoul La Roche, Paris (probably by 1921–62; gift in 1962 to Speiser); his nephew, Andreas Leonard Speiser, Basel and Melide, Switzerland (1962–d. 1999); his heirs, Switzerland (1999–2002; sold in June 2002 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (from 2002)
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Picasso Retrospective, 1901–1931," September 11–October 30, 1932, extended to November 13, 1932, no. 76 (as "Stilleben mit Zeitung," 1913, lent by M. Raoul La Roche, Paris).
Kunsthalle Basel. "Juan Gris, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso," February 26–March 24, 1948, no. 100 (as winter 1913).
Musée de Lyon. "Picasso," June 1953, no. 34 (as "L’étudiant," 1914).
London. Tate Gallery. "The Essential Cubism, 1907–1920: Braque, Picasso & their friends," April 27–July 10, 1983, extended to July 31, 1983, no. 141 (as Céret or Paris, summer 1913).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," September 24, 1989–January 16, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 302).
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," February 25–June 4, 1990, unnumbered cat. (fig. 369).
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Ein Haus für den Kubismus: Die Sammlung Raoul La Roche; Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris—Le Corbusier und Ozenfant," July 8–October 11, 1998, no. 92.
New York. PaceWildenstein. "Picasso, Braque and Early Film in Cubism," April 20–June 23, 2007, unnumbered cat. (p. 187).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 73.
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Kosmos Kubismus: Von Picasso bis Léger / The Cubist Cosmos. From Picasso to Léger," March 30–August 4, 2019, extended to August 18, 2019, unnumbered cat. (p. 317).
"Échos de l'Hôtel Drouot. Liste Complète des prix atteints à la deuxième vente Kahnweiler." L'Esprit Nouveau: Revue internationale illustrée de l'activité contemporaine 15 (1921), p. 1828, as "Nature morte".
Pierre Reverdy. Pablo Picasso. Paris, 1924, ill. p. 51, as "Etudiant," 1914.
Le Corbusier. "Deux Hôtels à Auteuil." Almanach d'architecture moderne, documents, théorie, pronostics, histoire, petites histoires, dates, propos standarts, apologie et idéalisation du standart organisation, industrialisation du bâtiment, 172 clichés, 200 page. Paris, 1926, ill. p. 51 (on display in the residence of Raoul La Roche, Paris, by 1926).
Exposition Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie Georges Petit. Paris, 1932, (German ed., p. 6, no. 76).
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 2b, Works from 1912 to 1917. Paris, 1942, unpaginated, (list of plates; erroneously as pl. 207), no. 443, pl. 208, as winter 1913.
Juan Gris, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Basel. Basel, 1948, p. 21, no. 100.
Franco Russoli. Pablo Picasso. Exh. cat., Palazzo Reale. Milan, 1953, unpaginated, no. 34, ill.
Maurice Jardot. Picasso: Peintures, 1900–1955. Exh. cat., Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Paris, 1955, unpaginated, no. 41, ill. (1st ed., no. 39).
Maurice Jardot. Picasso: 1900–1955. Exh. cat., Haus der Kunst München. Munich, 1955, unpaginated, no. 35, ill.
Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. Der Weg zum Kubismus. Stuttgart, 1958, pp. 86, 128, ill. p. 76, as "Der Student".
Les sources du XXᵉ siècle: Les arts en Europe de 1884 à 1914. Exh. cat., Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris, 1960, p. 188, no. 562, ill.
Le Cubisme: Braque, Gris, Léger, Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie Beyeler. Basel, 1962, unpaginated (checklist), no. 7, ill.
Le Cubisme: Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger. Exh. cat., Galerie Knoedler. Paris, 1962, unpaginated (checklist), no. 6, ill.
Robert Rosenblum. Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art. Rev. ed. (1st ed., 1960). New York, 1966, pp. 94, 96, 319, ill. no. 46.
Roland Penrose. Picasso. Basel, 1968, p. 150, no. 22, ill. p. 47.
William Rubin, ed. Picasso in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, including Remainder-Interest and Promised Gifts. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1972, p. 212, fig. 58.
Franco Russoli and Fiorella Minervino. L'opera completa di Picasso cubista. Milan, 1972, p. 118, no. 647, ill.
Roland Penrose and John Golding, ed. Picasso in Retrospect. New York, 1973, p. 275, ill. no. 71.
Robert Rosenblum. "Picasso and the Typography of Cubism." Picasso in Retrospect. Ed. Roland Penrose and John Golding. New York, 1973, p. 52, ill. no. 71.
Winthrop Judkins. Fluctuant Representation in Synthetic Cubism: Picasso, Braque, Gris, 1910–1920. PhD diss., Harvard University. New York, 1976, pp. 146, 251, no. Z-P 12-17, pl. 443, ill. p. 361.
Robert Rosenblum. Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art. Rev. ed. New York, 1976, pp. 90–91, 341, ill. no. 46.
Franz Meyer inPicasso: Aus dem Museum of Modern Art, New York, und Schweizer Sammlungen. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1976, p. 66, no. 30, ill. p. 67.
Françoise Cachin and Fiorella Minervino. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Picasso, 1907–1916. Paris, 1977, p. 118, no. 647, ill.
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet. Picasso, The Cubist Years, 1907–1916: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and Related Works. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 1979, French]. Boston, 1979, pp. 138, 308, no. 621, ill., as 1913.
Robert Rosenblum. "Picasso and the Typography of Cubism." Picasso in Retrospect. Ed. John Golding and Roland Penrose. New York, 1980, p. 35.
William Rubin, ed. Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1980, p. 153, ill. p. 174.
Malcolm Gee. Dealers, Critics, and Collectors of Modern Painting: Aspects of the Parisian Art Market Between 1910 and 1930. PhD diss., Courtauld Institute of Art. New York, 1981, appendix F, p. 44, no. 101, as "Nature morte".
Picasso, 1881–1981: A Centennial Selection. Exh. cat., Galerie Beyeler. Basel, 1981, p. 114, no. 15, ill. p. 46.
Pierre Daix. Cubists and Cubism. Geneva, 1982, p. 107.
Douglas Cooper and Gary Tinterow. The Essential Cubism: Braque, Picasso & their friends, 1907–1920. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1983, p. 292, no. 141, ill. p. 293.
Pierre Daix. Picasso créateur: La Vie intime et l'oeuvre. Paris, 1987, p. 143.
William Rubin, ed. Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1989, ill. p. 302 (German ed., 1990, fig. 369; French ed., 1990, and Spanish ed., 1991, ill. p. 296).
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: Cubism, 1907–1917. New York, 1990, pp. 354, 514, no. 1019, ill. p. 355.
Kirk Varnedoe. High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1990, p. 37, fig. 31.
Kirk Varnedoe in Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik. High & Low: Moderne Kunst und Trivialkultur. Exh. cat.Munich, 1990, p. 24, fig. 32.
Pierre Daix inPicassos Surrealismus: Werke, 1925–1937. Ed. Ulrich Weisner. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Bielefeld, Bonn, and Stuttgart, 1991, pp. 196–97.
Sylvie Coëllier. "Picasso: pointillisme et cubisme." Revue de l'Art no. 92 (1991), pp. 64, 66-67, 70, fig. 2.
Pepe Karmel. "Appendix 2: Notes on the Dating of Works." Picasso and Braque: A Symposium. Ed. Lynn Zelevansky. New York, 1992, p. 337, as (March) 1914.
Pierre Cabanne. Le siècle de Picasso. Vol. 2, L'époque des métamorphoses (1912–1937). Rev. ed. (1st ed., 1975). Paris, 1992, pp. 427–28.
Joseph Low (Pepe) Karmel. "Picasso's Laboratory: The Role of his Drawings in the Development of Cubism, 1910–14." PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1993, pp. 279, 292–94, 296, 432–33, fig. 246, as spring 1914.
Christian Geelhaar. Picasso: Wegbereiter und Förderer seines Aufstiegs, 1899–1939. Zürich, 1993, p. 123, fig. 116, and ill. p. 191 (installed in the exhibition “Picasso,” Kunsthaus Zürich, 1932), as 1913.
Pierre Daix. Picasso: Life and Art. New York, 1993, p. 135.
John Richardson with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 2, 1907–1917. New York, 1996, ill. p. 291, as 1913.
Katharina Schmidt and Hartwig Fischer, ed. Ein Haus für den Kubismus: Die Sammlung Raoul La Roche; Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris—Le Corbusier und Ozenfant. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Ostfildern-Ruit, 1998, p. 303, no. 32, p. 313, no. 152, ill. p. 18, ill. no. 19, ill. p. 36 (color, on display in the residence of Raoul La Roche, Paris, by 1926).
Pierre Daix inEin Haus für den Kubismus: Die Sammlung Raoul La Roche; Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris–Le Corbusier und Ozenfant. Ed. Katharina Schmidt and Hartwig Fischer. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Ostfildern-Ruit, 1998, p. 30.
Franz Meyer inEin Haus für den Kubismus–Die Sammlung Raoul La Roche: Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris–Le Corbusier und Ozenfant. Ed. Katharina Schmidt and Hartwig Fischer. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Ostfildern-Ruit, 1998, pp. 49–51.
Brigitte Leal, Christine Piot, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. The Ultimate Picasso. New York, 2000, pp. 162, 172, 510, fig. 363.
Bernice B. Rose, ed. Picasso, Braque, and Early Film in Cubism. Exh. cat., PaceWildenstein. New York, 2007, pp. 128, 187, ill. p. 130.
Tobia Bezzola. Picasso: His First Museum Exhibition, 1932. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Munich, 2010, pp. 200, 222, Zürich no. 76, ill. pp. 21 (installed in the exhibition “Picasso,” Kunsthaus Zürich, 1932), 222, listed in the catalogue for Exh. Zürich 1932 as "Stilleben mit Zeitung," 1913, lent by M. Raoul La Roche, Paris.
Vicenzo Tiziano Aglieri Rinella. "From Cubism to Purism: Art and Dwelling in Le Corbusier’s La Roche House-Gallery." Do.co.mo.mo_Mexico City 2010 11th International Docomomo Conference: Living in the Urban Modernity: Mexico City, August 24-27, 2010. 2010, ill. no. 2 (on display in the residence of Raoul La Roche, Paris, by 1926).
Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies. (video recording). Produced by Martin Scorsese and Robert Greenhut, Produced and directed by Arne Glimcher. New York: Arthouse Films, 2010, ill. (color).
T. J. Clark. Picasso and Truth: From Cubism to Guernica. Princeton, 2013, fig. 2.36 (on display in the residence of Raoul La Roche, Paris, by 1926).
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 47, as "Student Reading a Newspaper".
Elizabeth Cowling. "'Student with a Pipe'." Picasso: The Making of Cubism, 1912–1914. Ed. Anne Umland, and Blair Hartzell, with Scott Gerson. Ebook. New York, 2014, pp. 14.4–14.5, fig. 12.
Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 233.
Rebecca Rabinow inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 159–61, 163, 314(3)n.19, no. 73, ill. p. 160 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 296–97, fig. 73 (on display in the residence of Raoul La Roche, Paris, by 1926).
"The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection: A Conversation with Emily Braun and Pepe Karmel." IFAR Journal 16, no. 3 (2015), p. 48, figs. 2 (color, on display in the living room of the Lauder residence, New York, 2014), 26A (color), and 26B (on display in the residence of Raoul La Roche, Paris, by 1926).
Patricia Leighten inPicasso and Rivera: Conversations Across Time. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 2016, p. 142.
Lilly Casillas and Diana Magaloni inPicasso and Rivera: Conversations Across Time. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 2016, pp. 140–41, ill. (color).
Michael Govan and Diana Magaloni inPicasso and Rivera: Conversations Across Time. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 2016, p. 295.
Vérane Tasseau. "Lauder (Leonard A.)." Dictionnaire du Cubisme. Ed. Brigitte Leal. Paris, 2018, p. 406.
Enrique Mallen. Pablo Picasso: The Interaction between Collectors and Exhibitions, 1899-1939. Brighton, Portland, and Toronto, 2018, pp. 69, 261, no. 478.
Brigitte Leal, Christian Briend, and Ariane Coulondre, ed. The Cubist Cosmos: From Picasso to Léger. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Munich, 2019, p. 317 [German ed., Munich, 2019].
Brigitte Leal inThe Cubist Cosmos: From Picasso to Léger. Ed. Brigitte Leal, Christian Briend, and Ariane Coulondre. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Munich, 2019, p. 148 [German ed., Munich, 2019].
Annie Cohen-Solal. Un Étranger nommé Picasso: Dossier de police, no. 74.664. Paris, 2021, p. 256, as "L’Étudiant au journal" in a transcription of a letter from Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler to Sergei Shchukin.
"1913: A Watershed Year in the History of Modernism." 20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale: Franz Marc, The Foxes, 1913. March 1, 2022, ill. p. 97 (color).
Written on the verso (left of top stretcher bar, in pencil): 35; (top of right stretcher bar, in pencil): 5-10-5[5?]; (top of right stretcher bar, in blue crayon): 76
Leonard A. Lauder discusses his appreciation of the Cubist works of art he has collected. Leonard A. Lauder answers the question: "Which is your favorite picture?"
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