The composition was produced during Picasso's Rose Period and includes a self-portrait of the artist who frequented the club in his youth.

Picasso and his friends frequented a local cabaret club known as the Lapin Agile, where they drank and exchanged ideas with other artists.

Picasso agreed in exchange for free food and drinks and created Au Lapin Agile at the age of 25.

The composition is simple, with little background detail, except for the presence of the bar upon which the couple stand their drinks and the small stage at the rear.

The painting features three figures, a harlequin in the foreground, a woman sitting next to him wearing an orange dress and a feather boa, and a guitarist playing in the background.

[1] Columbia University art historian Theodore Reff has noted the alienation of the couple in the painting, which may reflect Picasso's own mood whilst in the company of Pichot, following the death of Casagemas.