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Lot Essay
Executed during his winter stay at Mougins in 1962, Tête de femme au chapeau is one of a series of images that Picasso produced, each showing the head of a woman treated in various different ways. Superficially, one might think that this was a form of visual experiment, Picasso honing down his skills through the repeated use of the same model. However, it is more likely that this is an image of Jacqueline, his long-term lover whom he had married at last only the year before - the same year as his eightieth birthday. During 1961 and 1962, Picasso repeatedly depicted Jacqueline in various modes and guises, filled with exuberance and enthusiasm. Tête de femme au chapeau thus appears to be one of these images, a supposition that seems borne out by comparison with the more literal likenesses that Picasso produced.
Even in his eightieth year, Picasso had never surrendered in the way that many of his former contemporaries had to bourgeois ideals and aesthetics. In Tête de femme au chapeau, the artist has deliberately used crayons, more commonly associated with children's art, to create this image of feminine beauty. These rough tools jar conspicuously and deliberately with his virtuoso draughtsmanship. Picasso is playing a game of artistic one-upmanship, humourously and effortlessly showcasing his own impressive skills. In Picasso's hands, crayon was not merely a flippant medium. Here, the artist has appreciatively capitalised upon the intense brightness of the crayons' colours to create a vibrant work filled with life. Picasso is not merely enacting his famous statement that 'When I was a child I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to draw like a child' (Picasso, quoted by H. Read in The Times, 26 October 1956). There is a sureness of line here that has nothing of the child about it. However, the artist's palpable energy in creating this picture and his spirit remain wholly child-like. With the fine lines of the face contrasting with the roughly handled hair, the bright colours of the head with the dun of the hat, Picasso manages to create a paradoxical image that is at once a shocking affront to aesthetic expectations and an exuberant and charming tribute to his young wife.
Even in his eightieth year, Picasso had never surrendered in the way that many of his former contemporaries had to bourgeois ideals and aesthetics. In Tête de femme au chapeau, the artist has deliberately used crayons, more commonly associated with children's art, to create this image of feminine beauty. These rough tools jar conspicuously and deliberately with his virtuoso draughtsmanship. Picasso is playing a game of artistic one-upmanship, humourously and effortlessly showcasing his own impressive skills. In Picasso's hands, crayon was not merely a flippant medium. Here, the artist has appreciatively capitalised upon the intense brightness of the crayons' colours to create a vibrant work filled with life. Picasso is not merely enacting his famous statement that 'When I was a child I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to draw like a child' (Picasso, quoted by H. Read in The Times, 26 October 1956). There is a sureness of line here that has nothing of the child about it. However, the artist's palpable energy in creating this picture and his spirit remain wholly child-like. With the fine lines of the face contrasting with the roughly handled hair, the bright colours of the head with the dun of the hat, Picasso manages to create a paradoxical image that is at once a shocking affront to aesthetic expectations and an exuberant and charming tribute to his young wife.