Lot Essay
In early 1930, Picasso acquired the Chteau de Boisgeloup near Gisors in Normandy. It was there that he created the extraordinary series of paintings showing Marie-Thrse either sleeping or enthroned in an armchair, in addition to the monumental sculptural heads of his muse.
With this series Picasso inaugurated a sequence of masterpieces all depicting Marie-Thrse and all dedicated to the couple's romantic and erotic rapture. Inspired by his love for his mistress, Picasso reached a pitch of extraordinary creativity. Pierre Daix has stated, "This period constitutes one of the summits of Picasso's art" (R. Rosenblum, Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1996, p. 360).
John Richardson has recounted the first encounter between Picasso and Marie-Thrse:
Outside the Galeries Lafayette, one freezing afternoon, he was captivated by the sight of a very young, very voluptuous blond with intensely piercing blue eyes--the quintessential femme enfant. Picasso grabbed her arm, but his opening gambit almost misfired: "Mademoiselle, you have an interesting face. I would like to do a portrait of you. I am Picasso." She had never heard of him; and he was obliged to take her to a nearby bookstore and show her publications in which his photograph appeared. In the course of this maneuver he managed to charm the girl into meeting him two days later at the Mtro Saint-Lazare, well away from his usual haunts. "We will do great things together," he said and took her to a movie (J. Richardson, exh. cat., Through the Eye of Picasso 1928-1934, exh. cat., William Beadleston, Inc., New York, 1985).
It used to be believed that this first encounter occurred in January 1927, though visual evidence suggests that they had in fact known each other since 1926 or even 1925. A lithograph Picasso made in November of 1925 seems to represent Marie-Thrse (Bloch, vol. 1, no. 73), and several works from 1926 almost certainly depict her (Zervos, vol. 7, nos. 4-7 and 24-25).
Picasso was fascinated by watching women sleep, and made hundreds of images of them doing so. He told Genevieve Laporte, "When a man watches a woman sleep, he tries to understand" (quoted in John Richardson, A Life of Picasso, New York, 1991, vol. I, p. 317). The artist was particularly captivated by studying Marie-Thrse asleep. This theme became the central focus of his work for much of 1931-32, and throughout early 1933.
In the present painting, the composition of the figure is largely built up from one serpentine unit--similiar to an 'S'--that is repeated in longer or shorter lines and even reversed according to the needs of the mimesis. The palette is exceptionally rich, made up of colors that are deeply saturated yet luminous and vibrant. Her lilac flesh glows from the heat of the rising sun and its rays are reverberated throughout the room.
As John Golding has said of the works from this period:
...[they] radiate so strong an air of erotic fulfillment and relaxation... Marie-Thrse's full, passive, golden beauty was to preside over Picasso's art for the next four years, most typically she is seen in what appears to be dreamless sleep... The Marie-Thrse paintings...tend to be flatter, more elaborate and more lyrical in their coloring and often the backgrounds are highly patterned. Everywhere there are symbols of growth and fertility." (J. Golding, "Picasso and Surrealism," Picasso in Retrospect, New York, 1973, pp. 110-111)
It is likely, too, that the vivid polychromy, dreamy eroticism, and emphatic patterning of the background in Nu couch were partially inspired by Matisse, Picasso's greatest rival. There had been a major retrospective of Matisse's work in Paris in 1931. Picasso's of paintings of Marie-Thrse in 1932 and 1933 answer the challenge posed both by the chromatic power and sexual imagery of Matisse's paintings from his Nice period. Works such as Odalisque couche, 1927 (Dauberville, vol. II, no. 674) and Femme couche, bracelets au chevilles, 1927 (Dauberville, vol. II, no. 678), as well as other works from his last years at Nice all seem to have been simmering in the back of Picasso's mind.
With this series Picasso inaugurated a sequence of masterpieces all depicting Marie-Thrse and all dedicated to the couple's romantic and erotic rapture. Inspired by his love for his mistress, Picasso reached a pitch of extraordinary creativity. Pierre Daix has stated, "This period constitutes one of the summits of Picasso's art" (R. Rosenblum, Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1996, p. 360).
John Richardson has recounted the first encounter between Picasso and Marie-Thrse:
Outside the Galeries Lafayette, one freezing afternoon, he was captivated by the sight of a very young, very voluptuous blond with intensely piercing blue eyes--the quintessential femme enfant. Picasso grabbed her arm, but his opening gambit almost misfired: "Mademoiselle, you have an interesting face. I would like to do a portrait of you. I am Picasso." She had never heard of him; and he was obliged to take her to a nearby bookstore and show her publications in which his photograph appeared. In the course of this maneuver he managed to charm the girl into meeting him two days later at the Mtro Saint-Lazare, well away from his usual haunts. "We will do great things together," he said and took her to a movie (J. Richardson, exh. cat., Through the Eye of Picasso 1928-1934, exh. cat., William Beadleston, Inc., New York, 1985).
It used to be believed that this first encounter occurred in January 1927, though visual evidence suggests that they had in fact known each other since 1926 or even 1925. A lithograph Picasso made in November of 1925 seems to represent Marie-Thrse (Bloch, vol. 1, no. 73), and several works from 1926 almost certainly depict her (Zervos, vol. 7, nos. 4-7 and 24-25).
Picasso was fascinated by watching women sleep, and made hundreds of images of them doing so. He told Genevieve Laporte, "When a man watches a woman sleep, he tries to understand" (quoted in John Richardson, A Life of Picasso, New York, 1991, vol. I, p. 317). The artist was particularly captivated by studying Marie-Thrse asleep. This theme became the central focus of his work for much of 1931-32, and throughout early 1933.
In the present painting, the composition of the figure is largely built up from one serpentine unit--similiar to an 'S'--that is repeated in longer or shorter lines and even reversed according to the needs of the mimesis. The palette is exceptionally rich, made up of colors that are deeply saturated yet luminous and vibrant. Her lilac flesh glows from the heat of the rising sun and its rays are reverberated throughout the room.
As John Golding has said of the works from this period:
...[they] radiate so strong an air of erotic fulfillment and relaxation... Marie-Thrse's full, passive, golden beauty was to preside over Picasso's art for the next four years, most typically she is seen in what appears to be dreamless sleep... The Marie-Thrse paintings...tend to be flatter, more elaborate and more lyrical in their coloring and often the backgrounds are highly patterned. Everywhere there are symbols of growth and fertility." (J. Golding, "Picasso and Surrealism," Picasso in Retrospect, New York, 1973, pp. 110-111)
It is likely, too, that the vivid polychromy, dreamy eroticism, and emphatic patterning of the background in Nu couch were partially inspired by Matisse, Picasso's greatest rival. There had been a major retrospective of Matisse's work in Paris in 1931. Picasso's of paintings of Marie-Thrse in 1932 and 1933 answer the challenge posed both by the chromatic power and sexual imagery of Matisse's paintings from his Nice period. Works such as Odalisque couche, 1927 (Dauberville, vol. II, no. 674) and Femme couche, bracelets au chevilles, 1927 (Dauberville, vol. II, no. 678), as well as other works from his last years at Nice all seem to have been simmering in the back of Picasso's mind.