Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Bernice Johnson Winston, USA
Estate of the above (sold: Christie's, New York, 20th May 1981, lot 525)
Alexandre Iolas, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1982

Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, Picasso, peintures, Paris, 1964, no. 68

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, œuvres de 1962 et 1963, Paris, 1971, vol. 23, no. 291, illustrated pl. 135
The Picasso Project, Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Sixties I, 1960-1963, San Francisco, 2002, no. 63-179, illustrated p. 388

The canvas is unlined. Apart from two very small spots of retouching at the extreme top edge and one very small spot of retouching at the extreme lower edge, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although slightly stronger and fresher in the original.
"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."

The theme of painter and his model is one of the great recurring motifs of Picasso's late œuvre, and in June 1963 he painted several canvases in which he placed the protagonists in an outdoor setting. The artist's exploration of this theme particularly intensified during this period: 'Picasso painted, drew and etched this subject so many times in his life that, as Michel Leiris has remarked, it almost became a genre in itself like landscape or still-life. In 1963 and 1964 he painted almost nothing else: the painter armed with his attributes, palette and brushes, the canvas on an easel, mostly seen from the side, like a screen and the nude model, seated or reclining' (Marie-Laure Bernadac in Late Picasso (exhibition catalogue), The Tate Gallery, London, 1988, p. 74).

 

Throughout this series of large canvases, the figure of the painter almost exclusively occupies the left-hand side of the composition, while the nude female model occupies the right half, their respective spaces clearly divided by the artist's easel. Whilst in the later variations of this theme men and women are seen in costume, often assuming roles such as musicians or musketeers, in the 1963 series the protagonists are unmistakably the artist himself and the model he is painting. The lush outdoor setting that Picasso chose for the present painting is an echo of his series of Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, which preoccupied him several years earlier. Through the introspective theme of the painter at work, and the association with Edouard Manet's great masterpiece, Picasso was, during this mature stage of his career, consciously positioning himself within the canon of Western art.