Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Property from the Collection of ALICE TULLY

Details

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Tête de femme (Alice Derain)

signed, numbered and stamped on the back 'Picasso 4/6 C. VALSUANI CIRE PERDUE'--bronze with dark brown patina
Height: 11in. (28cm.)

Original clay version executed in Paris, 1905; this bronze version cast in 1960, number four in an edition of six with two artist's proofs

Provenance

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris

Literature

R. Johnson, The Early Sculpture of Picasso 1901-1914, New York, 1976, pp. 38-43
P. Daix, La vie du peintre de Pablo Picasso, Paris, 1977, p. 70
G. Tinterow, Master Drawings by Picasso, Cambridge, Mass., 1981, p. 58
W. Spies, Pablo Picasso: Das plastische Werk, Berlin, 1983, no. 5 (another cast illustrated, p. 326)

Lot Essay

When Picasso met Alice Gery, the future wife of painter André Derain, she was married to Maurice Princet, an insurance agent who was friendly with many artists. Picasso drew a portrait in profile of Alice which he dedicated to her and dated 1905 (Zervos, vol. 1, no. 251). Picasso was then at the height of his Rose Period. Both the drawing and sculpture reflect the delicate characterization of the subject which is typical of this phase, although the portrait bust possesses a greater degree of naturalism and physical presence which stems largely from its three-dimensional medium.