Hi all.

i am trying to replicate a sculpture by Pablo Picasso called ‘El Torro’ which uses a saddle and a set of handlebars to create the feeling of a bull’s head. I can’t post links to a website with photos as I am new but if you look on Wikipedia for ‘bulls head’ by Picasso you can see it.

I have a saddle that looks right but I am struggling to find a handlebar set that will work. Picasso made the sculpture in France in the early 1940s from old bicycle parts in a shed. Does anyone know what type of handlebars he might have used, and then, where I could buy some?

many thanks.

mark

Bull horn bars? (duh) look online..

Pic of the famous piece, courtesy of MoMA:

Another angle, pulled from Dave Moulton's blog:

My first thought was Porteur bars, however, there is a rise. That would make them most similar to what Velo Orange calls Left Bank. Other makers may have different names. The Velo Orange example are made to be lightweight and are therefore aluminum.
Velo Orange Left Bank Handlebars

If you want to replicate the original, you would want steel. Then remove the finish and let it rust. The Wald Touring handlebar might be close enough.

Wald Touring Handlebar

These are chrome plated steel.

I was thinking that since so many handlebars are sold out and what you are looking for is fairly simple and doesn't actually have to fit a bicycle, I wonder if you, or someone else, couldn't bend up some EMT, steel tubing. It bends nicely with a tubing bender that you can get from Home Depot. Electricians can do this for you. The outfits that do commercial work get really good at bending EMT. Some of their work is like artwork. Use muriatic acid to remove the galvanizing and let it rust.

Thanks for your kind replies.

I think that not using an actual bike part on something like this would drive me nuts. Every time I looked at it, my brain would whisper "that's not a handlebar," and I would slowly go insane(er).

--Shannon