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Lot Essay
In early 1966, while in Mougins convalescing from surgery he had undergone some months previously, Picasso re-read Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers. He had just begun painting again, and before long a new character entered his work, the musketeer, or the Spanish version of the 17th century cavalier, the hidalgo, a rakish nobleman skilled with the sword and daring in his romantic exploits. The brave and virile musketeer was strongly identifiable with the frail and aging artist himself, but also provided Picasso with a pretext to indulge in his love of Rembrandt, Velázquez and other great painters of the Baroque.
Like many of the artist's late works, the portraits of musketeers were done in series. Essentially traditional in pose and format, the musketeer became a favoured subject over the next few years and allowed Picasso to explore different means of representing the human form within a strict framework. Picasso found this method of constant variation especially useful when exploring old master subjects. It was an effective means of probing and re-interpreting a style or manner, and the repeated appearance of these subjects demonstrates the playful way in which the artist liked to project his own personality and fantasies into these characters from the past.
With his elegantly trimmed goatee beard, long curls and tricorn hat, and clad in a 17th century doublet, the subject of the present work is instantly recognisable. Many of Picasso's musketeers proclaim their Spanish heritage in his use of the national colours of blood red and golden yellow, which, here, contrast powerfully with the blues and purples of the sitter's face and hat. The large-eyed stare of the sitter is no doubt meant to reflect the famously powerful gaze of the artist himself.
Like many of the artist's late works, the portraits of musketeers were done in series. Essentially traditional in pose and format, the musketeer became a favoured subject over the next few years and allowed Picasso to explore different means of representing the human form within a strict framework. Picasso found this method of constant variation especially useful when exploring old master subjects. It was an effective means of probing and re-interpreting a style or manner, and the repeated appearance of these subjects demonstrates the playful way in which the artist liked to project his own personality and fantasies into these characters from the past.
With his elegantly trimmed goatee beard, long curls and tricorn hat, and clad in a 17th century doublet, the subject of the present work is instantly recognisable. Many of Picasso's musketeers proclaim their Spanish heritage in his use of the national colours of blood red and golden yellow, which, here, contrast powerfully with the blues and purples of the sitter's face and hat. The large-eyed stare of the sitter is no doubt meant to reflect the famously powerful gaze of the artist himself.