Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Collection particulière, Minnesota (Etats-Unis)
Vente : Sotheby's, New York, 11 novembre 1999, lot 396
Acquis lors de cette vente par le propriétaire actuel

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1965 à 1967, Paris, 1972, vol. XXV, no. 77, reproduit p. 44 
Alan Wofsy Fine Arts (ed.), The Picasso Project, Picasso's Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Sculptures; The Sixties II 1964-1967, San Francisco, 2002, no. 65-074, reproduit p. 170

The canvas is not lined. The white areas are thickly painted with generous impasto and there are a few lines of craquelure which are visible in the catalogue illustration. The impasto has caused slight variations in the canvas tension of the underlying areas. There is no sign of retouching under ultra-violet light. This work is in very good original condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

signed 'Picasso' (upper centre) ; dated and numbered '28.3.1965 IV' (on the reverse), oil on canvas. Painted in 1965. 

Fig. 1  Jacqueline et Picasso au Chateau de Vauvenargues en 1959, photographiés par David Duncan

Le thème du peintre et son modèle, abordé de manière récurrente par Pablo Picasso, est devenu selon Michel Leiris "un genre en soi", tant il a été traité avec passion par l'artiste (Michel Leiris, Le peintre et son modèle, Au verso des images, Montpellier, 1950, p. 50). Si de 1963 à 1964 il ne peint guère que cela, le sujet n'en est pas pour autant nouveau, apparaissant en filigrane tout au long de son œuvre. Véritable leitmotiv de sa création, des rondeurs enfantines de Marie-Thérèse aux poses orientalisantes de Jacqueline, il lui permet de mettre en exergue la question du regard et du voyeurisme, celle de la mise en scène et de l'artiste démiurge tout puissant sur son œuvre. L'amour et ses occurrences charnelles sous tendent ainsi continuellement l'inspiration du peintre, liant intimement l'art à la vie.

Cette variation autour du thème du peintre et de son modèle s'inscrit dans une perspective autobiographique et  théâtrale : le visage imposant de Picasso, éclairé par un unique œil, sur la gauche, est tourné vers Jacqueline, odalisque ingresque allongée, languissante. Si le thème demeure inchangé, les conventions de représentations sont bousculées : le peintre délaisse la traditionnelle palette, attribut emblématique, pour se poser en simple homme touché par la luxure et la beauté de sa compagne. Le langage elliptique et synthétique du style tardif de Picasso s'exprime par la dynamique des raccourcis et l'épuration formelle, cherchant à exprimer l'essence même du corps et des détails anatomiques. Ainsi, Jacqueline, réminiscence de la Maja Desnuda de Goya (1800) du Nu bleu (Souvenir de Biskra) de Matisse (1907), apparaît-elle sur la toile, brossée en quelques coups de larges pinceaux et points sommaires. La gamme chromatique réduite, usant essentiellement de bleu, jaune, noir et rose, se fait le chantre d'une représentation expressive et minimale. La peinture, plus que médium, devient fluide corporel et matière féconde irradiant la toile de son aura charnel. Ainsi la toile revendique-t-elle la fusion du dessin et de la couleur, dans une quête d'art total et syncrétique, afin que "le dessin et la couleur soient la même chose" (Hélène Parmelin, Picasso dit..., Paris, 1966, p. 85). Cette recherche de spontanéité, de rapidité, correspond au désir primordial de dire l'essentiel avec les moyens les plus simples, car selon la pensée de Picasso "un point pour le sein, un trait pour le peintre, cinq taches de couleur pour le pied, quelques traits roses et verts (...) Tout est dit" (Hélène Parmelin, Op. Cit. p. 19).

 

The theme of the painter and his model was revisited so often and with such passion by Pablo Picasso that it became, in the words of Michel Leiris, "a genre in itself" (Michel Leiris, Le peintre et son modèle, Au verso des images, Montpellier, 1950, p.50).  Though from 1963 to 1964 he devoted himself almost entirely to this motif the subject was by no means new to him and recurred throughout his oeuvre.  A veritable catalyst for his creativity, from the youthful curves of Marie-Thérèse to the Orientalist poses of Jacqueline, the theme allowed him to explore issues concerning looking, voyeurism, staging and the artist as omnipotent creator.  Love and its physical expression thus constantly underlie the painter's inspiration, intimately linking art to life.

The present variation on the theme of the painter and his model is based on a dramatic autobiographical perspective: on the left, illuminated by a single eye, we see the imposing face of Picasso himself, turned towards Jacqueline who reclines in a languorous pose reminiscent of Ingres' odalisque.  Though the theme remains unchanged, the conventions of representation have been overturned: the painter has abandoned his palette, the traditional symbol of his profession, in order to pose simply as a man touched by the voluptuousness and beauty of his companion.  The elliptical and synthesizing language of Picasso's later style is evident in the dynamic foreshortening and formal purism, which attempts to express the very essence of the body and the anatomical details.  Thus Jacqueline, echoing Goya's Maja Desnuda (1800) and Nu bleu (Souvenir de Biskra) by Matisse (1907), appears on the canvas, sketched with a few wide sweeps of the paintbrush and rough dots.  The expressive and minimalist representation is conveyed through the reduced colour scheme, which primarily uses blue, yellow, black and pink.  The paint, more than a medium, becomes a bodily fluid, a fertile substance bathing the canvas in its carnal glow.  Thus the canvas attempts a fusion of drawing and colour, in a quest for a total, all-encompassing art, in order that "drawing and colour be the same thing" (Hélène Parmelin, Picasso dit..., Paris, 1966, p. 85).  This pursuit of spontaneity and rapidity corresponds to a primordial desire to express the essence by the simplest means possible, as according to Picasso's theory "with a dot for the breast, a line for the painter, five splashes of colour for the foot, a few pink and green lines (...) Everything is said" (Hélène Parmelin, Op. Cit. p.19).