Pablo Picasso

Estate of the artist

Marina Picasso (by descent from the above)

Acquired from the above

Paris, Grand-Palais, Hommage à Pablo Picasso,1966-67, no. 211, illustrated in the catalogue

Munich, Haus der Kunst; Cologne, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut; Zürich, Kunsthaus, Collection Marina Picasso, 1981-82,  no. 230, illustrated in the catalogue

Venice, Centro di Cultura di Palazzo Grassi, Picasso, Opere dal 1895 al 1971 dalla Collezione Marina Picasso, 1981, no. 275, iluustrated in the catalogue

Tokyo, The National Museum of Modern Art & Kyoto Municipal Museum, Picasso, Masterpieces from Marina Picasso Collection and from Museums in USA and USSR, 1983, no. 179, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria & Sidney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Picasso, 1984, no. 145

Schwerin, Staatliches Museum, Pablo Picasso. Der Reiz der Fläche / The Appeal of Surface, 1999,  no. 19, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Geneva, Galerie Jan Krugier, Ditesheim & Cie & New York, Jan Krugier Gallery, Pablo Picasso Metamorphoses. Oeuvres de 1898 à 1973 de la collection Marina Picasso, 2001, no. 81, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Kunstmuseum Bern, PICASSO und die Schweiz, 2001-02 , no.135, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Barcelona, Museu Picasso, Picasso : Guerra y Paz,  2004, no. 157, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Valencia, Instituto Valencia d'Arte Modern (IVAM), El fuego bajo las cenizas (de Picasso a Basquiat), 2005, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny - Musée Maillol, Le Feu sous les Cendres, de Picasso à Basquiat, 2005-06, illustrated in color in the catalogue

The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. Liberation and Post-War Years. 1944-1949, San Francisco, 2000, no. 46-053, illustrated p. 74

Overall this work is in very good condition. Original canvas. Colors are fresh. Hairline craquelure to the extreme right and left edges probably due to the size of the canvas. Under UV light, four small dots of retouching: one to the extreme left edge of the canvas, one to the top of the canvas 1/3 from the right, one to the bottom of the canvas right at the 4th black line from the left and one to the middle center to the right.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Measuring over two meters long, Picasso's impressive depiction of a reclining woman dates from his time in the South of France with Francoise Gilot.  This sunny change of scenery followed years of forced confinement in occupied Paris during the war and was conducive to some of the artist's most expansive and celebratory images of the decade.  The present work was painted in June of the summer of 1946 and depicts a reclining woman, presumably inspired by Gilot.  Two works on paper (Zervos XIV nos. 188 and 191) completed on the same date also relate to this composition.  Picasso would return to this theme later in the year for a composition that now hangs in the the Musée Picasso in Antibes.  That same summer, Dor de la Souchère, conservator of the Château d'Antibes, met the artist on the beach and offered Picasso free use of the vast halls for his paintings.  As a result, Antibes boasts the first Museum dedicated exclusively to his work, for Picasso left his entire production of October and November in the stately rooms where it was done.  The present work, which Picasso kept in his own collection, anticipates the palette and stylization of the pictures now featured in his eponymous museum on the Mediterranean coast.