Pablo Picasso

Gustave & Léon Bollag Collection, Zurich (sale: Galerie Bollag, Zurich, 3rd April 1925, lot 167)
Constance Charlotte Bailward, United Kingdom (acquired during the 1920s)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Pierre Daix, Picasso 1900-1906 Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Paris, 1966, no. XV.29, illustrated p. 300
Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Supplément aux œuvres de 1903-1906, Paris, 1970, vol. XXII, no. 430, illustrated p. 151 (without signature)
Alberto Moravia, L'opera completa di Picasso blu e rosa, Milano, 1979,  no. 270A, illustrated p. 109
Joseph Palau i Fabre, Picasso Vivo (1881-1907), Barcelona, 1980, no.1242, illustrated p. 448
Le miroir noir, Picasso, sources photographiques 1900-1928 (exhibition catalogue), Musée Picasso, Paris, 1997, fig. 45, illustrated p. 58

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, attached to the mount at the upper two corners and the lower right corner. There is an area of staining and paper rubbing to the left of the figure's chest. There is a small stain to the figure's right knee and some very faint lines of discolouration in the left half of the sheet, both possibly inherent to the artist's process. There is a 2cm repaired tear at the right of the extreme lower edge. There is a 1.5cm hard crease just below the figure's chest. There is time staining and light handling marks to the sheet. Otherwise, this work is in fair 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."

Nu tenant un miroir is a beautifully accomplished exercise in understated elegance. The work depicts the artist's lover Fernande Olivier, but perhaps more importantly is a remarkable example of Picasso's nuanced interpretation of classical art. Executed in 1906, the present work is a rare and very closely related study for La Toilette, the monumental oil housed in the permanent collection of The Albright-Knox Gallery. La Toilette reflects Picasso's view of the two different sides of Fernande's personality. One of the figures is nude and standing in an open pose looking in a mirror, which implies vanity, while her more modest counterpart is fully clothed and standing quietly in profile holding the mirror: the present work is an amalgamation of these two visions.

As well as being a study for an important oil, and a charming image in its own right, the present work nods to the idealism and economy of means that characterised both Roman and Egyptian art. The figure is located in an undetermined space, adding to the feeling of eternity and of time having been suspended, imbued in the work's fabric. Nu tenant un miroir is a wonderful example from what proved to be a pivotal year in Picasso's artistic development, and of the artist's unique ability to create work that is simultaneously self-assured and understated, classical and modern.