Pablo Picasso

Estate of the Artist

Marina Picasso, Paris

Acquavella Galleries, New York

Acquired from the above in 1989

Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art; New York, The Brooklyn Museum; Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts & Denver, The Denver Art Museum, Picasso the Printmaker: Graphics from the Marina Picasso Collection, 1983, no. 21, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Munich, Galerie Thomas, Picasso bei Thomas, 1986, illustrated in color in the catalogue

New York, Jan Krugier Gallery, Pablo Picasso "Petit Formats", 1989, no. 18, illustrated in the catalogue

Bernhard Geiser, Picasso Peinture-Graveur: Catalogue Illustré de l'Ouevre grave et lithographie 1899-1931, Bern, 1955, no. 200

Brigitte Baer, Picasso, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre gravé et lithographié et des monotypes 1899-1931, vol. 1, Bern, 1990, mentioned p. 333

Work is in excellent condition. Gouache over etching. T-hinged with Japanese paper at the top corners. A few pinhole sized dots of fiber remnants are visible in a few of the raised green pigments at the bottom of the sheet. Extreme edges of the sheet are slightly time darkened. Colors are fresh and lively.
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.

Deux femmes and the lot which precedes it, Baigneuse au pouf rouge, form an extraordinary pair of works which Picasso executed in 1930, using his own etchings as his source image and demonstrating his ceaseless inventiveness. Picasso created the etching in 1930, probably between September and October, in Boisgeloup.

In the current work, Picasso engages the subject matter of the original etching - a pair of female nudes (fig. 1). Brigitte Baer writes of this work, "Once again we are faced with the theme of 'two women,' which, for a long time, would displace the Three Graces. Picasso concentrated here on the relationship between two women and their intimacy as they bathe or wash themselves, far from prurient masculine eyes" (B. Baer, Picasso the Printmaker: Graphics from the Marina Picasso Collection, op. cit., p. 57).