Lot Essay
Picasso painted this picture in his second-floor studio at 23 rue La Boëtie in Paris. The same table and still-life appear in a non-Cubist oil sketch by Picasso showing one corner of the studio (Zervos, vol. 3, no. 436); the elements in the two still-lifes are identical in every detail. There are also two drawings by Picasso related to the present painting: the first of these is a realist line drawing of the vase, flower, pipe and tobacco pouch (Zervos, vol. 3, no. 409); the second is a more Cubist interpretation of the table, devoid of all the still-life elements except the newspaper (Zervos, vol. 3, no. 433). The order in which Picasso made the four works and their precise relationship cannot be conclusively determined.
In the painted sketch, the table stands next to an open window with a view of the cupola of Saint-Augustin. The connection of the still-life and the window suggests that both the sketch and the present painting may have been made as Picasso first conceiving his so-called "open-window" series, in which he depicted a still-life on a table in front of a window; this was his most important serial undertaking in 1919, involving at least thirty paintings, drawings and sculptures. A link between the present canvas and that series is also suggested by the curved lines indicating the front edge of the table top in our painting: lines similar in shape and placement reappear in many of the works in the "open-window" series, where they typically depict the body of a guitar.
Picasso's capacity to work with complete mastery in different styles at the same time was clear throughout his career, including the late 'teens. Brigitte Léal has colorfully termed this capacity "Picasso's Stylistic Don Juanism" (B. Léal, "Picasso's stylistic Don Juanism: Still Life in the Dialogue between Cubism and Classicism," exh. cat., Picasso and Things, Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1992, pp. 30-37). The present painting--and the works related to it--demonstrate the complex and multifarious nature of Picasso's productivity.
In the painted sketch, the table stands next to an open window with a view of the cupola of Saint-Augustin. The connection of the still-life and the window suggests that both the sketch and the present painting may have been made as Picasso first conceiving his so-called "open-window" series, in which he depicted a still-life on a table in front of a window; this was his most important serial undertaking in 1919, involving at least thirty paintings, drawings and sculptures. A link between the present canvas and that series is also suggested by the curved lines indicating the front edge of the table top in our painting: lines similar in shape and placement reappear in many of the works in the "open-window" series, where they typically depict the body of a guitar.
Picasso's capacity to work with complete mastery in different styles at the same time was clear throughout his career, including the late 'teens. Brigitte Léal has colorfully termed this capacity "Picasso's Stylistic Don Juanism" (B. Léal, "Picasso's stylistic Don Juanism: Still Life in the Dialogue between Cubism and Classicism," exh. cat., Picasso and Things, Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1992, pp. 30-37). The present painting--and the works related to it--demonstrate the complex and multifarious nature of Picasso's productivity.