Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Waddington Galleries, London
Private Collection, London (acquired from the above in 2002; sale: Sotheby's, London, 24th June 2009, lot 24)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art, Picasso, 1981, no. 78, illustrated in the catalogue
London, Waddington Galleries, Picasso/Matisse Works on Paper, 1997, no. 8, illustrated in colour in the catalogue (titled 'Jeune homme à l'aigle et cavalier')

René Char & Charles Feld, Picasso, dessins 27.3.66 - 15.3.68, Paris, 1969, no. 136, illustrated n.p.
Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, œuvres de 1967 et 1968, Paris, 1973, vol. XXVII, no. 473, illustrated pl. 183
The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Sixties II, 1964-1967, San Francisco, 2002, no. 67-093, illustrated p. 293

Executed on cream wove paper, affixed to the mount at eight points around the perimeter of its verso, floating in the mount. The edges are deckled and the sheet is very gently undulating. The extreme upper edges of the sheet are slightly mat-stained from a previous mount. The pigments are fresh and vibrant and the work is in overall very good 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."

 

Adolescents, aigle et âne is an extraordinary example of Picasso’s ability to express complex themes through seemingly simplistic visual vocabulary of line and colour. In the present work, one youthful figure sits atop a donkey while another sits next to him, a fierce eagle perched on his arm. While this delightful and humorous imagery may on the one hand represent the leisure of adolescence as its title suggests, there is no doubt that the theme of youth and sexual vitality is the driving force behind this scene. In the late 1960s, Picasso created a series of drawings dominated by two themes: the female nude as complement to the male artist, and the male figure with animals, often in the form of a musketeer or musician. While these images may vary in subject and style, the themes of sexual virility and the animalistic power of youth feature consistently and prominently, serving as a foundation of the artist's late work. Such thematic focus is often interpreted as an attempt by the artist, then 88 years old, to reclaim the sexual ego and stamina of his youth. Thus the figures in the present image, and the one seated at left in particular, proudly naked with floral crown and majestic eagle, can easily be interpreted as an avatar of the younger artist, Picasso’s own projection of his adolescent self.

In his devotional poetry about Picasso’s late works, Spanish poet Rafael Alberti writes: ‘Each day begins for you like a powerful erection, a heated spear point turned against the rising sun. It is Priapus who continues to ignite the invention of your graces and your monsters’ (quoted in Picasso: The Late Drawings, New York, 1988, p. 6).