Pablo Picasso

François Lachenal, Paris (thence by descent)
Private Collection, France
Sale: Christie's, London, June 23, 2005, lot 312
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

In excellent and apparently original condition. The sheet is floating and is attached to the mount with plastic corner brackets, not laid down or hinged in any way. The sheet is very fresh as it was taken from a spiral bound notebook; the top edge shows the original perforations. The sheet is faintly incised with images which appear likely to be caused by the pressure of the artist’s hand on the next sheet of paper in the spiral bound sketchbook. The work includes one line of blue ink in the woman’s headdress. The line is strong and the work appears very fresh.
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.

At the time he completed the present work, Picasso was in his eighties. It is believed that these late pictures, featuring a virulent, playful and often flirtatious male figure, were meant to embody the artist's lost youth and vigor. Gert Schiff has written about the significance of these pictures, observing how they offer an escape from the struggles of everyday life in a manner similar to Gauguin's pictures of his Tahitian paradise: "Here the old artist revives one last time that dream which Paul Gauguin had impressed so forcibly upon his generation: the flight from civilization. To think there are whole peoples who lie in the sand and pipe upon bamboo canes! To think that it should be possible to rid oneself of all norms and necessities of modern life, of the curse of individuality – to live a life without memory, hence without death; to come into being and disintegrate like a plant and to span the interim safely embedded in the mythical collective of a primitive society. Could it be that the brain itself is the result of a faulty development? This question seems to lurk behind those large paintings like Nude Man and Woman and The Aubade in which Picasso transforms his bucolic figures into budding primeval giants" (Gert Schiff, Picasso, The Last Years, 1963-1973 (exhibition catalogue), The Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, 1983).

Fig. 1 Pablo Picasso, Self Portrait, 1972, ink on poster, Private Collection (photo by Lucien Clergue, 1997)