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Lot Essay
Executed in the summer of 1946, Le Faune au Soleil is one of a number of joyous works that Picasso painted over the summer that reflect the artist's new found happiness in his relationship with Franoise Gilot.
The present work belongs to a series of paintings and drawings that represent bacchanalian characters. In these scenes of joyous revelry, which in their gaity suggest the carefree days of summer, the centerpiece is often a portrait of Franoise Gilot as a flower. Picasso depicts himself in these paintings in the multiple guise of a centaur, as Pan and as a faun; three alter-egos that are evidently intended to represent sides of his own character as it revolves around the object of his new-found love.
Of all these works on this theme, the present work relates most closely to La femme-fleur that Picasso had painted in the Spring of 1946. In its refined stylisation and in its elegant depiction of the artist metamorphosised into a fictitious alter-ego, it can in many ways be considered a companion piece to this famous portrait of Franoise.
The present work belongs to a series of paintings and drawings that represent bacchanalian characters. In these scenes of joyous revelry, which in their gaity suggest the carefree days of summer, the centerpiece is often a portrait of Franoise Gilot as a flower. Picasso depicts himself in these paintings in the multiple guise of a centaur, as Pan and as a faun; three alter-egos that are evidently intended to represent sides of his own character as it revolves around the object of his new-found love.
Of all these works on this theme, the present work relates most closely to La femme-fleur that Picasso had painted in the Spring of 1946. In its refined stylisation and in its elegant depiction of the artist metamorphosised into a fictitious alter-ego, it can in many ways be considered a companion piece to this famous portrait of Franoise.