Lot 195
  • 195

Pablo Picasso

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
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Description

  • Pablo Picasso
  • Taureau devant le picador
  • Signed Picasso and dated 11.11.59.I (upper right)
  • Brush and ink on paper
  • 19 3/4 by 26 in.
  • 50.1 by 66 cm

Provenance

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Galerie Chalette, New York
Niveau Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above in 1980

Literature

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1959 à 1961, vol. XIX, Paris, 1968, no. 70, illustrated p. 18

Condition

The work is in very good condition. Executed on cream wove paper. The sheet is hinged to a mount at several places along the perimeter of its verso. The right and left edges are deckled. The sheet is lightly time-darkened overall.
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.

Catalogue Note

The bullfight was a theme that Picasso returned to continuously throughout his life and was an important reference point for the artist’s personal identity, symbolizing both his Spanish heritage and his masculinity. He was enchanted by the ritual, the excitement and the danger, much as Goya had been one hundred and fifty years earlier.

The bullfight was to remain a perpetual motif throughout Picasso’s life as he sought to realize his vision of this unique spectacle. As he once commented, “What I would like is to create the corrida as it is… I would like to create it as I see it… I would like to create it all… I would need a canvas as big as the arenas themselves… It would be magnificent” (quoted in Hélène Parmelin, Picasso dit…, Paris, 1966, pp. 49-50). This composition conveys the sense of theater that for Picasso remained the essence of the bullfight.