Lot Essay
Françoise Gilot, an artist and a companion of Picasso for over a decade, wrote in the introduction of the exhibition catalogue Je suis le cahier-The sketchbook of Picasso:
A sketchbook is a companion, a mirror of dreams,
utterly sincere since it is utterly private and
personal. From doodles to scamped or elaborate
notations it bears witness to the early processes
of creation... In a sketchbook the artist attempts
to capture a new conception as it surges from the
limbo of the unconscious. (exh. cat., New York, The
Pace Gallery, Je suis le cahier-The Sketchbook of
Picasso, 1986, p. 212)
This sketchbook, executed between March 31 and April 11, 1966, should be added to the already 176 known carnet realized between 1894 and 1967. Picasso kept most of his sketchbooks intact and for himself. However, the greatest number of those exectued after 1964 were dismantled by the artist - each page was sold by the Galerie Louise Leiris as an individual drawing. In 1970 he gave 17 carnets, most of those executed before 1900 to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and in 1990 the estate of Jacqueline Picasso donated 24 carnets to the Picasso Museum in Paris which were added to the 32 sketchbooks already in their collection. The remainder are with the artist's family.
The present sketchbook was given by Picasso to the present owner around 1970 and has remained unexhibited and unpublished in that collection for the last 25 years.
Only two other sketchbooks were executed after this. One followed immediately and was started on April 14. It is similar in size, includes 28 drawings on 23 pages and was finished on June 1, 1966 (Musée Picasso, Paris). The last one was executed the following year, it is smaller in size and dedicated "Pour Jacqueline ma femme 3.12.67" (family of the artist).
It is a rare opportunity to be offering for sale a sketchbook by Picasso as no complete carnet had ever been offered at auction. The present carnet (21 drawings on 19 pages) is an accurate record of the various theme being explored at that time by the artist: portraits (no. 2-5,9-13 and 16), erotic scenes (nos. 6,7,20 and 21), mousquetaires (no. 15), and painters and models (nos. 17-19). Discussing the works of this period, Marie-Laure Bernadac noted: Painting ruled supreme during these last years, so absolutely indeed that the artist declared, in an amazing and utterly lucid act of capitulation: 'Painting is stronger than I am; it makes me do whatever it wants.' [inscription made on the cover of a 1963 sketchbook ] (exh. cat., London, The Tate Gallery, Late Picasso, 1988, p. 49).
21 photo-certificates from Maya Widmaier-Picasso dated Paris, December 1994 accompany each drawing in this lot.
A sketchbook is a companion, a mirror of dreams,
utterly sincere since it is utterly private and
personal. From doodles to scamped or elaborate
notations it bears witness to the early processes
of creation... In a sketchbook the artist attempts
to capture a new conception as it surges from the
limbo of the unconscious. (exh. cat., New York, The
Pace Gallery, Je suis le cahier-The Sketchbook of
Picasso, 1986, p. 212)
This sketchbook, executed between March 31 and April 11, 1966, should be added to the already 176 known carnet realized between 1894 and 1967. Picasso kept most of his sketchbooks intact and for himself. However, the greatest number of those exectued after 1964 were dismantled by the artist - each page was sold by the Galerie Louise Leiris as an individual drawing. In 1970 he gave 17 carnets, most of those executed before 1900 to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and in 1990 the estate of Jacqueline Picasso donated 24 carnets to the Picasso Museum in Paris which were added to the 32 sketchbooks already in their collection. The remainder are with the artist's family.
The present sketchbook was given by Picasso to the present owner around 1970 and has remained unexhibited and unpublished in that collection for the last 25 years.
Only two other sketchbooks were executed after this. One followed immediately and was started on April 14. It is similar in size, includes 28 drawings on 23 pages and was finished on June 1, 1966 (Musée Picasso, Paris). The last one was executed the following year, it is smaller in size and dedicated "Pour Jacqueline ma femme 3.12.67" (family of the artist).
It is a rare opportunity to be offering for sale a sketchbook by Picasso as no complete carnet had ever been offered at auction. The present carnet (21 drawings on 19 pages) is an accurate record of the various theme being explored at that time by the artist: portraits (no. 2-5,9-13 and 16), erotic scenes (nos. 6,7,20 and 21), mousquetaires (no. 15), and painters and models (nos. 17-19). Discussing the works of this period, Marie-Laure Bernadac noted: Painting ruled supreme during these last years, so absolutely indeed that the artist declared, in an amazing and utterly lucid act of capitulation: 'Painting is stronger than I am; it makes me do whatever it wants.' [inscription made on the cover of a 1963 sketchbook ] (exh. cat., London, The Tate Gallery, Late Picasso, 1988, p. 49).
21 photo-certificates from Maya Widmaier-Picasso dated Paris, December 1994 accompany each drawing in this lot.