Pablo Picasso, a well-known Spanish painter, created artwork that was heavily influenced by conflict; much of this conflict occurred within his own personal life. Picasso was born in Málaga, Spain in 1881 to a father who was already deeply engrossed in the artistic world. His father  “encouraged his aptitude for art" (McQuillan). Picasso’s artistic ability grew with his age and in his early twenties he travelled to Paris to further his talents. In Paris, he became part of a circle of intellectuals who had a lasting impact on his life and art. One member of the circle was Georges Braque who, along with Picasso, became a founder of the art style called "cubism" (Antliff). Another member was Max Jacob who “had been the leading writer in Picasso's circle of friends” (Bassett and Tomlinson) and introduced Picasso to Apollinaire, another poet Picasso befriended. Through this circle, Picasso advanced his artistic expression and developed cubism, an artistic style that became popular during the early 1900’s.

In addition to visiting Paris, Picasso also became involved in theatrical life. The spark for his interest in theater came from a director, Jean Cocteau, who asked Picasso to design the sets and costumes for his upcoming ballet, Parade.  Picasso then attended many plays and saw performances like the Commedia dell'Arte, a form of comic theater popular in Naples (Bassett, Tomlinson).  His art work reflects influence that both theater and his peers had on his life. Picasso transitioned through numerous periods in his artistic career - the blue period, the rose period, etc; however, cubism ultimately was the style that “secured his prominent place in the history of 20th century art” (McQuillan).  Picasso, together with George Braque, whose painting is also exhibited in the same room as Three Musicians, first introduced cubism to the public.  During this time, Picasso employed geometric shapes and neutral colors to create abstract representations of real models. Through Picasso’s work, cubism became increasingly popular as “a mode of composition that served to bond together broadly geometric and starkly contoured shapes, and aligned these elements with the rectilinear format of the canvas itself” (Roskill). Using this method of cubism, Picasso also experimented with different types of paper medium, being one of the first to incorporate collages into fine art. This use of mixed media was referred to as synthetic cubism, the Three Musicians being a perfect example. (Masters) Through the contrasting shapes and materials, Picasso expressed the clashes between “the intellect and the emotions, between forms of classicism and expressionism and between the conscious and the unconscious” (McQuillan).

In 1921, Pablo Picasso painted his famous work, Three Musicians (“Philadelphia Museum of Art”). This painting consists of three abstractly drawn figures, each holding some sort of musical item and each person representing someone known by Picasso. All the way to the left, “Picasso depicts himself with a violin under his chin, wearing a Harlequin (clown) costume covered with bright red and yellow triangles, the colors of the Spanish flag” (“Philadelphia Museum of Art”). In the center is Guillaume Apollinaire “as Pierrot (pee-air-oh), a mime, playing a clarinet” (“Philadelphia Museum of Art”). The third character, “the poet Max Jacob, is dressed in the traditional brown robe of a monk, holding an accordion in one hand and a glass in the other” (“ Philadelphia Museum of Art”). These three men were all great friends until circumstances forced them apart (monkhood, death), giving Picasso the necessary emotions to create this artwork. At the time, Picasso was designing sets for theater as another medium for his creativity (“Cubism Comes Full Circle”). The setting for this painting seems to be in a “stagelike (sic) space” (“Philadelphia Museum of Art”). The contrast of colors in the painting is “like memories, some shapes are filled with dark, dull colors or are partially hidden, while others are bright and bold, perhaps expressing the artist’s longing for the happy, fun-filled days that he, Apollinaire, and Jacob had spent together” (“ Philadelphia Museum of Art”). It is considered a masterpiece with its “richness of feeling and balance of formal elements” (“Pablo Picasso”).  Three Musicians is exhibited in a room with various other paintings from the cubist movement, including works by Braque and Juan Gris, another prominent cubist painter.