Pablo Picasso

Private Collection (acquired before 1991)

London, Wildenstein & Co., Cabinet des dessins, French Master Drawings XVIth-XIXth Century, 1993, no. 31

Bogotá, Museo Nacional de Colombia, Picasso en Bogotá, 2000, no. 7, illustrated in color in the catalogue 

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Supplément aux volumes 1 à 5, vol 6, Paris, 1954, no. 475, illustrated pl. 58

Denys Chevalier, Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods, Paris, 1991, illustrated p. 49

The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Blue Period, 1902-1904, San Francisco, 2011, no. 1902/03-024, illustrated p. 84

This work is in good condition. Executed on cream colored laid paper. T-hinged to a mount at the top two corners. Sheet is slightly time darkened. Small nail-head sized brown stain in center of figure's right arm. Two diagonal soft creases at lower right quadrant with associated stable tiny tear at center of right edge and a small yellowish stain at the figure's right elbow, otherwise fine. The medium is well-preserved.
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.

Homme âgé is a study for Picasso's Blue Period masterpiece from 1903, Le Pauvres au bord de la mer, also known as The Tragedy, now in the collection of The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (fig. 1). Picasso captures in the forlorn expression of this male figure, the quiet anguish that has come to characterize the artist's works from this early period.

In the present sketch, executed either in Barcelona at the end of 1902 or in the early part of 1903 in Paris, Picasso depicts the figure with his arms down and fists clenched. In the final oil painting, the arms of the impoverished man are crossed, as if in protection against the cold sea-breeze. His eyes remain downcast, however, and his profile in the final oil is remarkably similar to that in this preparatory drawing.  

In addition to Homme âgé, there are three other extant sketches of this male figure from The Tragedy which are in the collection of the Musée Picasso in Paris (see Palau i Fabre, Picasso, The Early Years, 1881-1907, New York, 1981, nos. 846, 857 & 860).