Description:

Pablo Picasso
Málaga 1881 – 1972 Mougins
Femme nue couchée
Watercolor ink with brush and graphite or charcoal on paper
23.5 x 32 cm
Signed and dated 3.2.(19)68 top left
Documented in the catalog raisonné of Christian Zervos (WVZ Zervos XXVII, 212)

Reverse:
Label of the Louise Leiris Gallery, Paris

Literature:
Charles Feld "Picasso Dessins 27.3.66 - 13.3.68" published by Dumont Cercle d'Art 1st edition 1969 illustrated under no. 364

Provenance:
Louise Leiris Gallery, Paris circa 1968/70
In its time, the world's leading gallery for works by Picasso and Dali.
Founded in 1920 by Henry Kahnweiler, Picasso's close friend & patron.
After his death, his daughter-in-law, Louise Leiris, continued to run the gallery.
Private collection
Sotheby's, London, 6.2.2002, Impressionist & Modern Art, lot no. 209, illustration page 206
International art trade
Private collection Salzburg, Austria

In the course of his life, Picasso met and also fell in love with several women. They all influenced the artist significantly for his paintings. Thus, he created numerous portraits of naked women, sitting or lying, which also repeatedly hold objects in their hands.

In the spring of 1968, when Picasso painted this work "Femme nue couchée", the artist lived with his last wife Jacqueline Roque in Mougins, southern France. The depiction of this naked, reclining female figure resembles in your features Jacqueline which he depicted in numerous portraits. She came late in the life of the artist, but from 1954 she quickly became Picasso's favorite and most painted motif. While it is not entirely clear that this painting is a portrait of Jacqueline Roque, his wife was undoubtedly the inspiration for it, as well as for a number of other works Picasso created in the 1960s.

The watercolor "Femme nue couchée", which we are selling in our auction, depicts a woman with long, wavy hair leaning backwards. Her left arm, lying flat on the ground, supports her body weight. She has her legs crossed at the bottom and her right forearm rests relaxed on her thigh. Picasso's main focus was on the female curves of the body. The master shows this various shades of black and reinforces the overall impression with strong, thick lines. Compared with other works from this period, he decided to paint over the face completely. If you look closely, he painted over several faces. The contours are visible. This daring, abstract step leaves the viewer in the dark about the sitter although, as mentioned above, we assume his wife Jacqueline as the impetus. Picasso has created this female figure in an expectant and lively posture. This allows the assumption that it is a model with which the artist was in close relationship.

In the 50s and 60s, Pablo Picasso often inspired the iconography of Old Master paintings. Shortly before our "Femme nue couchée" he diminished these allusions to such, earlier works again and began to deal more with the model and his relationship with the artist. In the following years he painted numerous versions of this theme, but often in varying compositions. It also happened that he drew himself while painting the model with the easel in his hand. Another time he recorded only his person in the picture. In this watercolor we see only the nude model filling the picture. The relationship between the woman and Picasso is particularly present here.

Picasso's complex, intense relationships with the numerous women in his life often provided the impetus for his most expressive works. Depicting sexual power and creative expression were explicit drives for the artist. In a conversation about art and eroticism, he said, "Art is never chaste. It should be forbidden to ignorant innocents, it should never come into contact with those who are not sufficiently prepared. Yes, art is dangerous. Where it is chaste, it is not art."
(Antonia Vallentin, Picasso, 1963, p. 168). During this phase, the diversity of his artistic work intensified. His paintings, watercolors and drawings became even more daring and expressive. Even in his advanced age, he retained his youthful view of the world and a curiosity about people in his immediate surroundings. This unrestrained youth allowed him to create more works than in any other period. Painting and drawing was almost obsessive and he dated each work to the day. It was as if he wanted to leave an artistic diary. His works became free and uninhibited. It seemed as if there was no need for justification anymore. Everything seems radiant and gently playful, appears youthful and light; fascinates the viewer in all his paintings in an irresistible way.

In our "Femme nue couchée" we find exactly all these criteria, which made the artist so unique in his late creative period.

  • Dimensions: 23.5 x 32 cm
  • Medium: Watercolor ink with brush and graphite or charcoal on paper
  • Circa: 3.2.(19)68
  • Condition: Very good condition

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