Pablo Picasso

Baron Napoléon Gourgaud (1891-1944), acquis en 1926
Eleanore & Daniel Saidenberg, New York
Acquis du précédent par le propriétaire actuel, 1981

Paris, Paul Rosenberg, Picasso, 1927, no. 74
Buenos Aires, Comisión Nacional de Bellas Artes, Exposición de Arte Francés, 1939, no. 315
Chile, Universidad de Chile, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Exposición de Arte Francés, 1940, no. 315
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, French Painting from David to Toulouse-Lautrec, 1941, no. 165
San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, French Watercolors & Drawings, no. b.33

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Catalogue raisonné, œuvres de 1926 à 1932, vol. VII, Paris, 1955, no. 37, reproduit p. 17
Josep Palau i Fabre, Picasso : Des ballets au drame (1917-1926), Barcelone, 1999, no. 1701, reproduit p. 478

Please note that measurements in inches are incomplete in the printed catalogue and should read 11 3/8 x 15 in. Executed on white wove paper, not laid down. The sheet is T-hinged to the mount at the top two corners. The lower edge is deckled. Apart from some very light and minor time-staining along the edges, this work is in very good original 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."

signed 'Picasso' and dated 'Juan-Les-Pins septembre 1926' (upper left), pen and ink and wash on paper. Executed in 1926.

Représentation de l'artiste et son modèle, ce lavis d'encre extraordinaire développe un thème qui allait préoccuper Picasso toute sa carrière durant. Méconnaissable, Picasso apparaît ici sous les traits d'un barbu à l'antique : il se représente en maître érudit, gardien de la tradition et fidèle interprète de l'idéal néoclassique de la pose ingresque de son modèle. Modèle posant devant l'artiste offre ainsi un saisissant aperçu des préoccupations esthétiques de Picasso en 1926; la figure du barbu à l'antique préfigurant l'arrivée du frénétique et passionné Minotaure comme alter-ego de l'artiste pendant plusieurs années.

Les contrastes de tons dramatiques et la fluidité de sa ligne, ici exaltés par la technique particulière du lavis d'encre de Chine, permettent à l'artiste d'atteindre un degré de virtuosité inconnu jusqu'alors et de développer avec assurance une sensualité nouvelle. Comme le suggère John Elderfield : 'L'innovation et la tradition constituent des motifs surdéterminés pour Picasso, convoquant dans son art, depuis le début, un idéal néoclassique, à renouveler dans une version sexuellement chargée, susceptible de symboliser sa propre fécondité artistique' (John Elderfield, Matisse Picasso (catalogue d'exposition), Musée national d'art moderne, 2002-03, p. 236)

 

A portrait of the artist sketching his model, this extraordinary ink-wash depicts a theme which was to preoccupy Picasso throughout his career. Unrecognisable as a faithful portrait of the artist, Picasso here presents himself as a bearded figure of antiquity: a master of erudition, guardian of tradition and great apprentice to the neoclassical ideal of his model whose pose evokes the great odalisques of Ingres. Modèle posant devant l'artiste thus offers a striking insight into Pablo Picasso's aesthetic preoccupations in 1926; this is a figure which predates the arrival of the more unruly and passionate Minotaur as the artist's alter-ego by several years.

The dramatic tonal contrasts and fluidity of line, here heightened by the particularities of  the medium of Indian ink and wash, allowed Picasso to demonstrate a new level of sensuality and his acute artistic confidence in the variety of effects he was capable of achieving. As John Elderfield notes: 'innovation and tradition amount to pre-destined motifs for Picasso, instilling from the very beginning a neo-classical ideal, to be renewed in a sexually charged version, which symbolises his own artistic fertility' (John Elderfield, Matisse Picasso (catalogue d'exposition), Musée national d'art moderne, 2002-03, p. 236).