On the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso, Sotheby’s is proud to offer Homme portant un enfant (Lot 1033), an important work from the final decade of his life and testament to the artist’s enduring legacy. Painted in 1965, Homme portant un enfant showcases the complexity that defines Picasso’s mature period. At the time that the present work was painted, Picasso reaffirmed his international recognition as one of the pioneers of 20th century art: in the Spring of this year, Cecil Beaton visited Picasso in his villa Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins and took his iconic photographs of the artist for an article that he would publish for Vogue, entitled ‘Golden Picasso’. One year later, Homme portant un enfant was exhibited at the seminal solo exhibition of Picasso’s work Hommage à Pablo Picasso which took place in 1966-67 at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Painted with the characteristic freedom of line found in the artist’s late works, the expressive brushstrokes of Homme portant un enfant speak to Picasso’s increasing desire to imbue his works with a sense of exuberance. In the mid-1960s, Picasso combatted his thoughts of aging with a burst of youthful and creative expression and this resulted in a profusion of musketeers, matadors and a greater focus on male figure. Homme portant un enfant belongs to a series of têtes and half-portraits featuring unidentified young men, some of which are portrayed with children, such as the present. These paintings took on a protean nature, hailing from a diverse array of sources: sometimes they adopted elements of self-portraiture, at other times they represented his father José Ruiz y Blasco and often they referred to the paintings of Old Masters. In Homme portant un enfant, the male figure has dark curly hair evocative of youth and is depicted wearing a striped shirt or marinière, which given Picasso’s fondness for the marinière, acts as a signature of sorts. In the strength of the figure’s gaze it is also possible to see the artist’s own mirada fuerte.

Children had always held an important place in Picasso’s art and in his later works their presence feels particularly poignant as the artist explored themes of virility, vitality and rebirth representative of his desire to reclaim youthfulness. Picasso revisits this male sitter and cocooned baby a few times in Mougins, often in black and white. In all these depictions, the child is ensconced and shielded within the man’s safe embrace, suggestive of the artist’s fascination with childhood. A similar subject appears in Picasso’s Le peintre au travail II, in the Museu Picasso, Barcelona. As with many of Picasso’s portraits executed throughout various stages of his career, the artist makes references to, and derives inspiration from, earlier art historical periods. Homme portant un enfant becomes an enduring symbol of the human experience.

The present work showcases Picasso’s skillful ability to render his subjects with sparing brushstrokes, evoking a striking sense of vigor. He delineates the essential features of the male sitter with stark black lines including his eyes, curly hair, broad shoulders, and protective hands. The clarity of line employed by the artist is balanced by a carefully considered chromatic arrangement.  Picasso employs a palette consisting of primarily neutral tones that alludes to the portraits of the Spanish masters that he so revered, such as Velázquez and Goya in their adept handling of black. The positioning of the male figure and the way in which he turns to confront the viewer also recalls the sitters found in the works of the Old Masters.  In his later years, Picasso was turning more often to the art of the past and re-envisioning it through his unique artistic vision. In the present work, Picasso instils a levity and avant-garde energy into the composition through the bright injection of colour in the figure’s face and the baby’s swaddling.  Executed on an impressive scale, Homme portant un enfant is a striking and universal portrait of the human condition that both looks back to the art of the past, whilst paving the way forwards and shaping the direction of Western art history.

在畢加索逝世 50 週年之際，蘇富比很榮幸能夠呈獻這幅出自畢加索傳奇人生最後十年的重要作品——《抱嬰男子》（拍品編號1033）。畢加索無論是在流行文化還是學術界都享譽盛名，其作品在藝術史上可謂空前絕後。《抱嬰男子》創作於 1965 年，展現了最能代表畢加索成熟時期的複雜特質。在這段時間，他再次證明身為二十世紀藝術先驅的自己在國際藝壇上享有尊崇的地位：當年春天，著名攝影師 Cecil Beaton 來到畢加索位於法國穆然永生聖母小鎮的別墅，為即將刊登在《Vogue》雜誌上的文章〈畢加索的黃金時代〉拍攝了多張經典照片。一年後，《抱嬰男子》在1966至1967年於巴黎大皇宮舉行的畢加索個展「向巴布羅・畢加索致敬」中展出。

畫中的線條自由奔放，不拘一格，把畢加索後期作品的特質展露無遺，充滿表現力的筆觸見證了他為作品傾注的豐沛情感。1960年代中期，畢加索在創作上驟然迸發出一股年輕活力和創意火花。他經常繪畫一名男性和嬰兒，分別以兩者代表堅壯的力量和旺盛的生命力，藉此排解衰老和死亡帶來的憂思，進而衍生出大量以火槍手和鬥牛士等男性為主角的作品。孩童一直在畢加索的作品中佔據相當重要的位置，但他要到1960年代中期才開始對這個題材進行更深入的探索。《抱嬰男子》出自一系列以年輕男性無名氏為主角的頭像和半身像，當中某些跟本作一樣，除了男子以外還畫上嬰兒。

這些畫中的男子有著千變萬化的特質，素材也來自各式各樣的人物：他有時是畢加索的自我投射，有時代表他的父親 José Ruiz y Blasco，有時更出現德加或林布蘭等已故藝術家，還有火槍手等虛構角色。本作中的男子有一頭代表青壯年的深色鬈髮，身穿條紋襯衫。考慮到畢加索對這種款式的喜愛，這件衣服更像是藝術家本人的簽名。透過男子堅定的凝視，我們彷彿看到畫家本人炯然有神的目光。

畢加索居住在法國穆然期間多次重覆繪畫坐著的男子和襁褓中的嬰兒，通常採用黑白色調。這些作品描繪了嬰兒安然處於男子的懷抱中並得到保護，間接體現了畢加索對孩童時期的想像。相似的人物也以藝術家的形象出現在《繪畫中的畫家 II》裡，作品現為巴塞羅那畢加索博物館收藏。畢加索在生涯各階段創作肖像畫時，很多時候會從藝術史上的前人作品中汲取靈感，本作亦不例外，堪稱是表現人類情感的雋永典範。

作品展示了畢加索爐火純青的畫技，他以克制、簡潔的筆觸描繪對象，剛健有力的感覺油然而生。鮮明的黑色線條用於勾勒外形，突顯男子的生理特徵，包括純良的樣貌、黑白分明的眼睛、鬈曲的頭髮、寬闊的肩膀和保護孩子的雙手。

畢加索居住在法國穆然期間多次重覆繪畫坐著的男子和襁褓中的嬰兒，通常採用黑白色調。這些作品描繪了嬰兒安然處於男子的懷抱中並得到保護，間接體現了畢加索對孩童時期的想像。相似的人物也以藝術家的形象出現在《繪畫中的畫家 II》裡，作品現為巴塞羅那畢加索博物館收藏。

色彩的編排經過深思熟慮，平衡了落筆迅疾、清晰利落的線條。大部分色調為中性，令人想起畢加索一向推崇的西班牙巨匠，例如是將黑色運用得出神入化的維拉斯蓋茲和戈雅。男子在畫面上的位置以及正對觀眾的姿勢，都酷似古典油畫中的人物。晚年的畢加索更常借鑑前人作品，然後以自成一家的風格重新演繹。他為男子臉龐和嬰兒襁褓所挹注的明亮色彩，就帶有一種舉重若輕的率性快意和前衛精神。本作尺幅可觀，以人類境況為焦點的題材容易引起普世共鳴，畢加索回溯過去的藝術，同時前瞻未來，在西方藝術史領域中開闢出一條通往新方向的道路。