Pablo Picasso

Estate of the artist

Marina Picasso (the artist's granddaughter; by descent from the above)

Acquired from the above

Munich, Haus der Kunst; Cologne, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle; Frankfurt, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut; Zürich, Kunsthaus, Collection Marina Picasso, 1981-82, no. 155, illustrated in the catalogue

Venice, Centro di Cultura di Palazzo Grassi, Picasso, Opere dal 1895 al 1971 dalla Collezione Marina Picasso, 1981, no. 206, illustrated in the catalogue

Tokyo, National Museum of Modern & Kyoto, Municipal Museum, Picasso, Masterpieces from Marina Picasso Collection and from Museums in USA and USSR, 1983, no. 123, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Sydney, National Gallery of New South Wales, Picasso, 1984, no. 93

Tokushima, The Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Picasso and Japan, 1990, no. P26, illustrated in the catalogue 

Hannover, Sprengel Museum, Pablo Picasso, Wege zur Skulptur. Die Carnets Paris und Dinard von 1928 aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso, 1995, fig. 4 illustrated in color in the supplement of the catalogue

Schwerin, Staatliches Museum,  Pablo Picasso. Der Reiz der Fläche / The Appeal of Surface, 1999, no. 14, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Geneva, Galerie Jan Krugier, Ditesheim & Cie; New York, Jan Krugier Gallery, Pablo Picasso Metamorphoses. Oeuvres de 1898 à 1973 de la collection Marina Picasso, 2001-02, no. 53, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Barcelona, Museu Picasso,  PICASSO de la caricatura a las metamorfosis de estilo, 2003, no. 139, illustrated in the catalogue

London, Hayward Gallery, South Bank Centre, Undercover Surrealism. Georges Bataille and Documents, 2006, no. 136, illustrated in the catalogue 

Michel Leiris, 'Toiles récentes de Picasso', Documents, vol. II, Paris, 1930, p. 66

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, oeuvres de 1926 à 1932, vol. 7, Paris, 1955, no. 318, illustrated pl. 131

John Richardson, Through the Eye of Picasso, 1928-1934. The Dinard Sketchbook and Related Paintings and Sculpture, New York, 1985, no. 68

Josep Palau i Fabre, Picasso: From the Minotaur to Guernica (1927-1939), Barcelona,  2011, no. 207

The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, Surrealism, 1930-1936, San Francisco, 1997, no. 30-011, illustrated p. 6

Very good condition. Oil on panel that is surrounded by a protruding wooden edging on all four sides. This edging was applied to the panel by the artist prior to execution and bears paint drips from the composition. The upper-half of the composition evidences paint shrinkage, particularly between the figure's limbs, and there is also shrinkage in the black line on the left that extends down to the edge of the composition. The paint surface is stable and areas of impasto are well-preserved. Under UV, there are thin lines of retouching to the white areas of shrinkage in the upper half, and also to the upper left and white corners.
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.

Picasso's bold, linear rendering on a painted white panel dates from 1930, while a host of influences were at play in his art.  The composition brings together Picasso's most important motifs of this era, rendered in dialogue and in opposition.  On the right of the composition is a head inspired by his young lover Marie-Thérèse, recognizable by the intials "M T" that the artist has incorporated into the outlines of her face. 

In the center of the composition we see  Picasso's limber 'acrobat,' the same figure from his large painting of 1930 that now resides in the Musée Picasso.  This figure, who is often regarded as an alter-ego for the artist, takes on an even more improbable contortion as he is wedged between the aforementioned "MT" and the tangle of sharp lines on the left, in which one can detect the menacing profile of his wife Olga.  It was during this period that Picasso was incorporating the image of Olga into his "bone" pictures, which were inspired by the delicate beauty of skeletons and anatomical drawings, and the present work incorporates the aesthetic of this particular fascination. This linear amalgamation also calls to mind the iron-wire sculptures that Picasso was creating with Julio Gonzalez in the late 1920s.

Picasso painted this picture only two days after completing his large Acrobate, depicting what John Richardson describes as "a contortionist poking his nose up his own bottom."  The painting could be hung either way, as Picasso's positioning of the figure in that work and in the present work seems arbitrary.  Picasso told Françoise Gilot that the viewer "must learn to see the familiar from an unfamiliar point of view."  According to Richardson, "he also liked the idea of manipulating viewers into twisting their heads this way and that, and wondering whether they are dealing with a lie that tells the truth or a truth that appears to lie.  Even when there is not doubt as to which way up a painting should be hung, Picasso took pleasure in giving different answers to anyone rash enough to question him" (J. Richardson, A Life of Picasso, The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932, New York, 2009, p. 391).