Lot 145
  • 145

Pablo Picasso

Estimate
700,000 - 1,000,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Pablo Picasso
  • Paysage
  • Signed Picasso (lower left); dated 16.2.65 (on the reverse)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 26 by 21 5/8 in.
  • 66 by 54.8 cm

Provenance

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Private Collection, France
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2006

Literature

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1965 à 1967, vol. XXV, Paris, 1972, no. 34, illustrated pl. 21

Condition

This work is in excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. The surface is clean. Under UV light no inpainting is apparent.
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.

Catalogue Note

Referring to the artist’s earlier landscapes, John Richardson noted, "Since he could never depict anything without to some degree identifying with it, Picasso assumes the role of genius loci in his landscapes that constitute his first sustained confrontation with nature. He invests the trees with his own life force, as if he were God reinventing the universe in his image. 'I want to see my branches grow... That's why I started to paint trees; yet I never paint them from nature. My trees are myself'" (John Richardson, A Life of Picasso. 1907-1917: The Painter of Modern Life, vol. II, New York, 1996, p. 93).

In the present work, a landscape dating to the final decade of the artist’s career, the same intrinsic zealous energy is apparent. The deliberately distorted perspective of Paysage presents the distinct elements of the painting, simultaneously enveloping the viewer in the landscape. Whereas Picasso’s landscapes from the early 1940s employed subdued grays and browns to capture the oppressive atmosphere of occupied Paris, in the landscapes of the 1950s and 1960s, Picasso exalts in the depth and strength of color, seen here in his use of harmonious bright blue and green hues.

Picasso devoted a large portion of his time and passion throughout the 1960s to the reinterpretation and investigation of the old masters, an experience in which he personally reaffirmed his connection to some of the greatest painters in the history of art. Picasso revisited motifs from his earlier work while simultaneously re-working that of Manet, Matisse and Delacroix. Paysage is surreal in its swirling composition, drawing the viewer into the midst of highly atmospheric and other wordly mountain range. The flattened composition of the abstracted natural forms are reminiscent of both El Greco’s View of Toledo and van Gogh’s Landscape with Olive Trees (see figs. 1 & 2), yet it is intermingling of greyish blues, creamy greens, and light browns which recalls the sfumato technique practiced by Leonardo Da Vinci and suggests the breadth of Picasso’s study of art historical principles.