Focus on this artwork and explain the Background.
After achieving some early success in 1901, Picasso was still struggling by 1905, living in penury in Montmartre. The work was painted at a studio that he took on the top floor of the dilapidated building at 13 rue Ravignan, which the poet Max Jacob termed the "Le Bateau-Lavoir". The other floors were occupied by other artists, making it a hub of artistic activity. The Cirque Médrano was nearby, and Picasso was inspired by the harlequins and saltimbanques, clowns, jugglers and other acts, making the transition from his melancholy Blue Period to his more optimistic Rose Period.Picasso was particularly interested in the life of the saltimbanque during this period. He created several works that depicted circus performers, typically in family groups. This is evident in his gouache and ink work titled Famille D'arlequin (1905) and the monumental oil on canvas Famille de saltimbanques (1905). Picasso saw a form of human suffering in the lives of the circus performers, and portrayed them as figures of loneliness. However, in some of his works, he also depicted them as warm, intimate family groups.The woman holding the child in this painting may have been Picasso's girlfriend, Madeleine, with whom he was living from the end of spring 1904. She was named as the model for another Picasso work from this period titled Girl in a Chemise (c.1905) by Picasso's biographer Pierre Daix. Picasso expert John Richardson stated that Madeleine had become pregnant and had an abortion. It was suggested by Richardson that the woman depicted in Famille d'acrobates avec singe had similar features to Madeleine and was depicted at the same time that she would have given birth. This painting may therefore reflect Picasso's mixture of guilt relating to the abortion and his longing for a child.
Bateau-Lavoir saltimbanque Girl in a Chemise Pierre Daix Rose Period Le Bateau-Lavoir Max Jacob Cirque Médrano Blue Period Montmartre acrobat John Richardson harlequin gouache Famille de saltimbanques