Coq

The present work is one of three representations of the Coq that Picasso produced in Boisgeloup in the early 1930s. Werner Spies has drawn attention to the fact that Picasso's representations of animals appear to be far more grounded in reality than his depictions of the human face or body and often depict one single, unmistakeable movement or posture (W. Spies & C. Piot, op. cit., p. 176). The first version of the Coq (S. 134, of which there exist both the original plaster and an intermediate plaster), was executed in 1932 and is perhaps the most flamboyant version, displaying torsion and movement through its twisted neck and curled tail feathers. The following year Picasso returned to the motif and executed a further two versions of the Coq in plaster (S. 154 & 155; the present work & Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisberg respectively). Both these version are more static in their pose than the 1932 version, the present work perhaps even more serene in its stance than the Lehmbruck Museum version. However, both of the later versions are executed with a thickly worked plaster surface whose rich, turbulent texture gives life to the animal. The present work was later cast in bronze in an edition of two, but this original plaster version is unique.