Pablo Picasso

Georges Bernheim, Paris
René Gaffée, Paris
Galerie Knoedler, Paris
Private Collection, New York (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 16, 1984, lot 108A)
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Catalogue des Tableaux Modernes, Aquarelles, Gouaches, Dessins provenant de la Collection Georges Bernheim, 1935, no. 15 (titled Femme nue assise sur un escabeau)
Brussels, Galerie Louis Manteau, Sensibilité du Trait, 1943
Paris, Galerie Knoedler, Picasso, Dessins et Aquarelles, 1899-1965, 1966, no. 1, illustrated in the catalogue

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, supplément aux années 1892-1902, vol. XXI, Paris, 1969, no. 133, illustrated p. 52
Josep Palau i Fabre, Picasso, The Early Years, 1881-1907, 1981, no. 285, illustrated p. 154
María Teresa Ocaña, Picasso: La Formación de un Genio, 1890-1904, Barcelona, 1997, p.121
The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, Picasso in the Nineteenth Century: Youth in Spain II 1897-1900, San Francisco, 2008, no. 1899-014, illustrated p. 144

Executed on white wove paper, not laid down. The edges are irregular and deckled with various small nicks and tears, notably a 1.5cm tear running horizontally just below center of right edge. The sheet is french-mounted with thin strips of paper affixed to the perimeter of the verso and suspended above another sheet of paper. There is some light discoloration to the sheet and some staining to the extreme perimeter from the mount. There is a small puncture to the sheet in the background at lower left and some artist pinholes in all four corners. Two small repaired nicks in the background, one in the center of upper left quadrant and other to the lower right edge. Otherwise aside from a few spots of light foxing this work is on overall good 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.
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 the artist clearly grew up as a child of the nineteenth-century academic tradition. It is equally clear that even before his contact with the avant-garde of his day he rebelled so strongly against that tradition that the rebellion itself reveals his true personality.”

Werner Spies, Picasso: Pastels-Dessins-Aquarelles, Paris, 1986, p. 12