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Lot Essay
Dating from one of the most pivotal moments of Pablo Picasso’s prolific career, Tête de femme en profil was executed in 1906 during the artist’s seminal trip to Gósol, a remote, rural village set high amidst the mountains of northwest Spain. From a ground of earthy, terracotta tones, the elegant profile of a woman emerges, her hair and face defined in part by rigorous vertical pencil lines. Created at the beginning of his career, this work shows Picasso’s prodigious talent and his innate mastery of mediums. The watercolour has been manipulated with complete control, the strokes and pools of colour perfectly capturing the delicate features of this young woman’s profile and neck, all skilfully set of against the flash of rich green.
Picasso arrived in Gósol in June, accompanied by his raven-haired muse and first great love, the beautiful artist’s model, Fernande Olivier, ‘la belle Fernande’ as she was known. Staying at the only inn in the village, the Can Tempanada, Picasso soon began fervently sketching, drawing and painting, his imagination set ablaze by the wealth of stimuli he found in this Catalonian haven. Indeed, he produced as much work during the course of this roughly ten week Spanish sojourn as he had in the previous six months in Paris. ‘The atmosphere of his own country was essential to him,’ Fernande recalled of their trip, ‘and gave him… special inspiration’ (quoted in J. Richardson, A Life of Picasso, vol. I, 1881-1906, London, 1991, pp. 435-436).
Happily ensconced in rural Spanish life, Picasso’s art underwent a significant change. Returning to his Spanish roots, Picasso fell under the spell of the ancient, timeless classicism of the Mediterranean. He depicted the people of Gósol, the peasants, old innkeeper and children of the village, as well as Fernande – who is most likely the subject of Tête de femme en profil – with a new sobriety. Leaving behind the French symbolist influence that had permeated his contemporaneous Rose period works, he began to embrace a more archaic and simplified aesthetic, increasingly adopting a muted palette dominated by ochre and terracotta tones, the colours of the arid, sun-bleached landscape in which he was immersed.
Picasso arrived in Gósol in June, accompanied by his raven-haired muse and first great love, the beautiful artist’s model, Fernande Olivier, ‘la belle Fernande’ as she was known. Staying at the only inn in the village, the Can Tempanada, Picasso soon began fervently sketching, drawing and painting, his imagination set ablaze by the wealth of stimuli he found in this Catalonian haven. Indeed, he produced as much work during the course of this roughly ten week Spanish sojourn as he had in the previous six months in Paris. ‘The atmosphere of his own country was essential to him,’ Fernande recalled of their trip, ‘and gave him… special inspiration’ (quoted in J. Richardson, A Life of Picasso, vol. I, 1881-1906, London, 1991, pp. 435-436).
Happily ensconced in rural Spanish life, Picasso’s art underwent a significant change. Returning to his Spanish roots, Picasso fell under the spell of the ancient, timeless classicism of the Mediterranean. He depicted the people of Gósol, the peasants, old innkeeper and children of the village, as well as Fernande – who is most likely the subject of Tête de femme en profil – with a new sobriety. Leaving behind the French symbolist influence that had permeated his contemporaneous Rose period works, he began to embrace a more archaic and simplified aesthetic, increasingly adopting a muted palette dominated by ochre and terracotta tones, the colours of the arid, sun-bleached landscape in which he was immersed.