Lot 35
  • 35

Pablo Picasso

Estimate
350,000 - 450,000 GBP
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Description

  • Pablo Picasso
  • Portrait de Dora Maar (Dora Maar à la coiffe)
  • dated 13 Novembre XXXVI (lower right)
  • brush and ink, wash and pencil on paper
  • 40.5 by 31.5cm.
  • 16 by 12 3/8 in.

Provenance

Dora Maar, Paris (acquired from the artist)

The Estate of Dora Maar (by descent from the above. Sold: Piasa, Paris, Les Picasso de Dora Maar - Succession de Madame Markovitch, 28th October 1998, lot 15)

Purchased at the above sale by the late owner

Exhibited

Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz,  Linie, Licht und Schatten. Meisterzeichnungen und Skulpturen der Sammlung Jan und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 1999, no. 137, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The Timeless Eye. Master Drawings from the Jan and Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski Collection,1999, no. 151, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Miradas sin Tiempo. Dibujos, Pinturas y Esculturas de la Coleccion Jan y Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2000, no. 1181, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Bern, Kunstmuseum, Picasso und die Schweiz, 2001-02, no. 118, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, La Passion du Dessin. Collection Jan et Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2002, no. 162, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Vienna, Albertina, Goya bis Picasso. Meisterwerke der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2005, no. 157, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Munich, Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Das Ewige Auge - Von Rembrandt bis Picasso. Meisterwerke aus der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2007, no. 190, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Literature

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, œuvres de 1932 à 1937, Paris, 1957, vol. 8, no. 300, illustrated pl. 140

The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. Surrealism, 1930-1936, San Francisco, 1997, no. 36-086, illustrated p. 296

Josep Palau i Fabre, Picasso. From the Minotaur to Guernica (1927-1939), Barcelona, 2011, no. 800, illustrated in colour p. 270 (titled Dora Maar with Cap)

Condition

Executed on white wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount on the reverse of the upper corners, floating in the mount. The left edge is perforated. Apart from one very small nick in the centre of the lower edge, this work is in very good condition. Colours: In comparison to the printed catalogue illustration, the ink is stronger and the paper has a less yellow and more neutral tonality 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."

Catalogue Note

Picasso met Dora Maar in early 1936 and was immediately enchanted by her beauty and intelligence. Although still married to Olga and involved with Marie-Thérèse, Picasso swiftly began a relationship with the Surrealist photographer. Maar possessed rather different charms than those of his wife and lover: an artist in her own right, she spoke his native Spanish and shared his political concerns. As his muse she became the embodiment of his emotional and intellectual anxieties awakened by the war in Spain and the World War which followed.

Remarking on the numerous portraits Picasso created of Dora Maar during their early courtship - with reference to the present work - Josep Palau i Fabre commented: 'During the month of November 1936, which is when the portaits are most abundant, we again see her, face on, well groomed, with her eyes a little scared, seemingly looking inward on herself, her eyes betraying a hint of fright on account of what was happening to her' (J. Palau i Fabre, op. cit., p. 270).