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Lot Essay
In 1963, after almost ten years of finding inspiration in the iconography of Old Masters such as Velázquez, Rembrandt, Delacroix and Ingres, Picasso suddenly curtailed the use of allusive references to the past, limiting them to his etchings, while in his painting he concentrated on the essential relationship between the artist and his model. There are numerous variants on this theme: the artist is seen with his easel in front of him as he gazes at his model, in some the artist is alone with his troubled thoughts, and in a great number of pictures the nude body of the model fills the canvas.
In this series the artist is both voyeur and creator, and the model is the world itself, revealed through the reality of paint. Picasso reaffirmed his attachment to the external world and the presence of the "subject" in his painting, at a time when many artists were talking of doing away with both. However, the artist's intent is far from being purely philosophical, nor is it meant to serve as a commentary on his craft. "The more Picasso painted this theme, the more he pushed the artist-model relationship towards its ultimate conclusion: the artist embraces his model, cancelling out the barrier of the canvas and transforming the artist-model relationship into a man-woman relationship. Painting is an act of love, according to Gert Schiff, and John Richardson speaks of 'sex as metaphor for art, and art as a metaphor for sex'" (M.-L. Bernadac, "Picasso 1953-1972: Painting as Mode", Late Picasso, exh. cat., The Tate Gallery, London, 1988, p. 77).
Apart from periods in his early career, Picasso (unlike Matisse) did not employ professional models. A passionate emotional attachment to his model was the prerequisite for painting her, and Picasso's female subject is almost invariably the woman in his life at the time. Jacqueline Roque (see lot 278) had filled the dual role of lover and muse since mid-1954. "Picasso never paints from life: Jacqueline never poses for him: but she is there always, everywhere. All the women of these years are Jacqueline, and they are rarely portraits. The image of the woman he loves is a model imprinted deep within him, and it emerges every time he paints a woman" (ibid., p. 78).
The artist-model paintings of this period burst forth in waves, from February to May 1963, and in January, October, November and December 1964 and in March 1965. Their production subsided during the warmer months of spring and summer. It appears that Picasso felt the need most strongly to evoke this sensual aspect of the world when the days were short and the Midi weather at its chilliest. The present work was done on the penultimate day of 1964; however, painted in a tonality of contrasting greens, pinks and red, the figure of woman becomes a symbol of vernal vegetation, a mythic Flora, who beckons to the artist with the promise of a life-sustaining embrace.
In this series the artist is both voyeur and creator, and the model is the world itself, revealed through the reality of paint. Picasso reaffirmed his attachment to the external world and the presence of the "subject" in his painting, at a time when many artists were talking of doing away with both. However, the artist's intent is far from being purely philosophical, nor is it meant to serve as a commentary on his craft. "The more Picasso painted this theme, the more he pushed the artist-model relationship towards its ultimate conclusion: the artist embraces his model, cancelling out the barrier of the canvas and transforming the artist-model relationship into a man-woman relationship. Painting is an act of love, according to Gert Schiff, and John Richardson speaks of 'sex as metaphor for art, and art as a metaphor for sex'" (M.-L. Bernadac, "Picasso 1953-1972: Painting as Mode", Late Picasso, exh. cat., The Tate Gallery, London, 1988, p. 77).
Apart from periods in his early career, Picasso (unlike Matisse) did not employ professional models. A passionate emotional attachment to his model was the prerequisite for painting her, and Picasso's female subject is almost invariably the woman in his life at the time. Jacqueline Roque (see lot 278) had filled the dual role of lover and muse since mid-1954. "Picasso never paints from life: Jacqueline never poses for him: but she is there always, everywhere. All the women of these years are Jacqueline, and they are rarely portraits. The image of the woman he loves is a model imprinted deep within him, and it emerges every time he paints a woman" (ibid., p. 78).
The artist-model paintings of this period burst forth in waves, from February to May 1963, and in January, October, November and December 1964 and in March 1965. Their production subsided during the warmer months of spring and summer. It appears that Picasso felt the need most strongly to evoke this sensual aspect of the world when the days were short and the Midi weather at its chilliest. The present work was done on the penultimate day of 1964; however, painted in a tonality of contrasting greens, pinks and red, the figure of woman becomes a symbol of vernal vegetation, a mythic Flora, who beckons to the artist with the promise of a life-sustaining embrace.