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Lot Essay
The deathly confrontation of man, horse and bull struck Picasso's imagination since he was a child. Continuing Goya's legacy, he executed many versions of this most Spanish of subjects, ranging in style from the post-Impressionism of his early composition of 1901, to the colourful decoration of the curtain for Tricorne (1919); from the classical stillness of the present drawing, to the expressive violence of the studies for Guernica (fig. 2).
Picasso's meditations on this most public display of violence, bravery and ability is closely intertwined with Picasso's interest in animals, often chosen, in his work, to symbolise human conditions and qualities. The bull represents male strength and fertility, whilst also embodying rage and destruction - the positive and negative aspects always connected in Picasso's work. The ritual of the corrida itself is chosen because of its powerful contradictions of brutality and grace, tragedy and entertainment, Eros and Thanatos, and ultimately, life and death.
In this work, Picasso neglects the rhythmic movements of the torero, and concentrates instead on the moment when the bull hits the horse, causing its death and the fall of the picador. A virtually identical composition is in the Musée Picasso (fig. 1). In the present drawing, the tragic instant is frozen at its climax, thanks to the mastery of the subtlest of lines, describing with painful neatness the inextricable masses of animal and man. The suffering of the horse is similarly caught with an incredible economy of line. The simplification and lapidary concentration of this outstanding work epitomise Picasso's obsessive study of major classical draughtsmen, and, above all, of Ingres' example.
Picasso's meditations on this most public display of violence, bravery and ability is closely intertwined with Picasso's interest in animals, often chosen, in his work, to symbolise human conditions and qualities. The bull represents male strength and fertility, whilst also embodying rage and destruction - the positive and negative aspects always connected in Picasso's work. The ritual of the corrida itself is chosen because of its powerful contradictions of brutality and grace, tragedy and entertainment, Eros and Thanatos, and ultimately, life and death.
In this work, Picasso neglects the rhythmic movements of the torero, and concentrates instead on the moment when the bull hits the horse, causing its death and the fall of the picador. A virtually identical composition is in the Musée Picasso (fig. 1). In the present drawing, the tragic instant is frozen at its climax, thanks to the mastery of the subtlest of lines, describing with painful neatness the inextricable masses of animal and man. The suffering of the horse is similarly caught with an incredible economy of line. The simplification and lapidary concentration of this outstanding work epitomise Picasso's obsessive study of major classical draughtsmen, and, above all, of Ingres' example.