Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Marlborough Fine Art, London
Private Collection, New York
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, May 12, 1999, lot 449
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, Picasso, 172 dessins en noir et en couleurs, 1972, no. 160
New York, Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery, Picasso's Drawings—Myths of the Master, 1998, n.n.

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1971-1972, vol. XXXIII, Paris, 1978, no. 496, illustrated p. 170
The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings & Sculpture, The Final Years, 1970-1973, San Francisco, 2004, no. 72-236, illustrated p. 341

Executed on white wove paper not laid down. The sheet is fixed to a cardboard mount along the perimeter of the verso. The edges are irregular. Some light discoloration to the sheet which has affected the color of the felt-tip pen. The edges of the sheet appear quite thin, but otherwise fine. 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.
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This extraordinary drawing is testament to Picasso’s natural flair as a draughtsman. Executed in 1972—when, aged 91, Picasso’s own physical stamina had inevitably waned—his focus on erotic subjects in his paintings and drawings only intensified. In Diana Widmaier Picasso’s monograph on her grandfather’s art from these years, she claims that: "painters go about their painting to fulfill urgent needs and work off their passions" (Diana Widmaier Picasso, Picasso, New York, 2005, p. 10). This was undoubtedly the case for Picasso, who longed for the physical sensations that now eluded him. Rendered with a confident and free-flowing line, the image of the reclining nude in the present work is one of pure sensuality, and it takes the odalisque paintings of Ingres and Matisse as clear art historical references. The figure reclines languorously, surrounded by the serpentine lines of her oversized breasts, eyes and lips, as well as her looming left foot seemingly writhing in ecstasy. The contortions of the figure call to mind some of Picasso's most sensual depictions of the voluptuous Marie-Thérèse from the 1930s.

"I have less and less time and I have more and more to say," Picasso commented in his last decade (quoted in Klaus Gallwitz, Picasso Laureatus, Lausanne & Paris, 1971, p. 166). The freedom and spontaneity of his late work, together with the recourse of archetypical figures and symbols, reflect a growing awareness of his mortality, as well as a conscious decision to allow himself total liberty with both style and subject matter. Rather than ponder the details of human anatomy and perspective, the artist isolated those elements of his subject that fascinated and preoccupied him most, and he depicted them with his signature confidence and wit.