The Three Dancers
Artist	Pablo Picasso
Year	1925
Medium	Oil on canvas
Location	Tate Gallery, London
Dimensions	84.8 in × 56 in
	215.3 cm × 142.2 cm

The Three Dancers is a painting by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. He painted the piece in 1925, and it is his most famous work in the Surrealist style. It is painted on canvas, using oils, and is considered a landmark in Picasso’s artistic development. The artwork has been owned since 1965 by the Tate Gallery in London.

Details of the Painting

The Three Dancers shows a small group of ballet dancers, painted in a style that deliberately emphasizes uncertainty. The central dancer, for example, has a slit on her face that might be either a mouth or an eye. The work was produced at a time when Picasso’s own marriage was failing, and the painting strongly hints at his private unhappiness. The uneven, jagged shapes of the three dancers show intense energy, although with wildly uneven emotional expression. The central dancer’s raised arms are a deliberate link with the imagery of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.