Pablo Picasso

Estate of the artist
Eugene Victor Thaw, New York (acquired from the above)
Vivian Horan, New York
Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, (acquired by 1980)
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 15th May 1984, lot 76
Private Collection (sold: Christie’s, London, 20th June 2006, lot 144)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Paris, Galerie Claude Bernard, Picasso 1901-1971, 1980, no. 15, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Picasso, 2002-03, no. 13, illustrated in the catalogue

Edward Quinn & Pierre Daix, Picasso avec Picasso, Paris, 1987, illustrated in photographs of the artist's house pp. 151, 159 & 160
The Picasso Project, Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. Spanish Civil War, 1937-1939, San Francisco, 1997, no. 37-023(a), illustrated p. 11
Josep Palau i Fabre, Picasso: from the Minotaur to Guernica (1927-1939), Barcelona, 2011, no. 872, illustrated in colour p. 283

The canvas is unlined. Apart from a few very small spots of retouching, mainly at the extreme framing edges, visible under ultra-violet light, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although slightly richer 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."

In January 1937 Picasso painted several still-lifes featuring a candle and a pitcher on a table-top, executed in his studio in Paris. These seemingly simple compositions of a traditional genre nevertheless reflect multi-layered symbolism. On one hand, they are imbued with Freudian connotations, providing outwardly innocent symbols of male and female sexuality. The two elements of the still-life can be interpreted as a witty transformation of the artist and model imagery. On the other hand, the image of the candle serves both as a symbol of death and a flicker of hope during the years of the Civil War in Picasso’s native Spain. This imagery would become predominant in his output during the 1940s (fig. 1), when it offered both a placid alternative to the stress that clouded daily life during the Occupation, and potent war-time symbolism.

 

During 1937, Picasso’s private life was dominated by more than one woman: by the end of 1936 he became intimately involved with the photographer Dora Maar, whom he had met earlier that year, while at the same time still involved with Marie-Thérèse Walter and married to Olga. The symbolism of a female figure – particularly that of Marie-Thérèse – hidden in an everyday still-life object, was already established in Picasso’s iconography by the time he painted Nature morte à la bougie. Writing about this group of still-life paintings, Jean Sutherland Boggs observed: ‘The concepts are so simple […] – a decanter, candle, and tumbler; a compote and jug; and a goblet and an opened book. But in fact they are more exuberant, more glowing with energy and an instinctive drama than that. The drama is not the kind we associate with Dora Maar, but when we see a bristling candle’s flame, a glass of green leaves, and a coffeepot casting a shadow from its handle against a papered wall, we appreciate the generosity of Marie-Thérèse and the excitement of her relationship with Picasso’ (J. Sutherland Boggs in Picasso & Things (exhibition catalogue), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1992, p. 243).

 

Nature morte à la bougie remained in Picasso’s possession until the end of his life, and was subsequently acquired from his estate by the celebrated New York based art collector, patron and dealer Eugene Victor Thaw. The work features in several photographs of Picasso’s residence La Californie in the South of France, taken by his friend the photographer Edward Quinn (fig. 2).