Vinos del Rivero (Wines of the Rivero)

In 1981 Don Jos Blasco moved his wife Mara Picasso y Lpez and their children Pablo, Lola and Concepcin (Conchita) from Mlaga to La Coruna on the northwest coast of Spain. Picasso had already been painting under the tutelage of his father, who was an accomplished artist, teacher and curator. In 1892 Don Jos enrolled his son in the School of Fine Arts in La Corua, where the boy quickly progressed to life drawing, drawing from plaster casts, and paintng from life. In 1894 Don Jos is said to have given up painting because he felt his son's skills already surpassed his own. It is more likely, as Picasso later told friends, that Don Jos's sight began to weaken or he developed unsteadiness in his hands; he often allowed his son to complete paintings he had started. The years in La Corua were unhappy for the Ruiz family, culminating in Concepcin's death from diphtheria in early 1895. Later that year Don Jos accepted a teaching post in Barcelona and eventually moved him family there. In this new environment Picasso's artistic development accelerated at an even more prodigious pace.

Josep Palau i Fabre has confirmed the authenticity of this work.