Sale: 406 / Modern Art, June 08. 2013 in Munich Lot 98

 

98
Pablo Picasso
Jaqueline au chapeau noir, 1962.
Linocut in colors
Estimate:
€ 50,000 / $ 54,000
Sold:
€ 61,000 / $ 65,880

(incl. surcharge)
Jaqueline au chapeau noir. 1962.
Linocut in colors.
Baer 1311/III B b (of b). Bloch 1028. Signed. Dated in printing block. Inscribed "épreuve d'artiste" by a hand other than that of the artist. One of 8 signed copies of ca. 35 artist proofs aside from the edition of 50 copies. On wove paper by Arches (with watermark). 64 x 53 cm (25,1 x 20,8 in). Sheet: 75 x 62,5 cm (29,5 x 24,6 in).
Published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris 1963.

Picasso was introduced to art in his early childhood by his father who was an art professor at the Academy in Barcelona. Picasso's early paintings from Paris are influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec, Honoré Daumier and Paul Gauguin. An interest in Art Nouveau and Symbolism culminated in Picasso's 'blue period' in which he concentrated on the depiction of suffering, haggard, slightly anaemic people, reflecting the fin-de-siècle mood of pessimism. In Paris Picasso's contact with innovative art circles led to a new and different style: the 'pink period', which lasted from 1904 to 1906. Delicate pastel colors dominate his works of this period, often depicting scenes from the world of the circus. The 'Demoiselles d'Avignon' of 1907 mark the beginning of his Cubist period in which he exceeded the classical form. The works produced between 1909 and 1912 are considered analytically Cubist: The picture surface is divided into rhythmically ordered sections. From 1912 Picasso also integrated specific objects and began making collages. After a realist phase around 1915 and an interest in Diaghilew's ballet in 1917 Picasso developed a neo-Classicist style. Five years later his interest in Surrealism led to yet another new means of expression. The next turning point in Picasso's oeuvre is marked by 'Guernica' which was painted in 1937. It was commissioned for the Spanish pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris and publicly criticised the air-raids on the Basque village of Guernica flown by the Franco-friendly German 'Legion Condor' during the Spanish civil war.After the Second World War Picasso retreated to Southern France and began designing and painting ceramic around the middle of the 1940s. During this period he also produced most of his graphic oeuvre: drawings, lithographs, engravings and linoleum cuts. He worked on numerous cycles in which he combined motifs from his own earlier work with historical motifs from Delacroix, Velázquez and Manet.

When Picasso discovered a new graphical technique for himself he used all opportunities it offered him. The linocut is a good example. Originally intended as a replacement for the brittle wood that was hard to cut, the linoleum was used by a number of artists in the early 20\up5 th century as an easy to process printing plate, however, it did not achieve revolutionary artistic invention. Picasso took up the almost forgotten technique again and developed it to make a remarkable artistic contribution, which stands comparison with the rest of the graphic work of the artist both in term of its technical originality and composition. On the contrary. With his linocuts Picasso opened a path of innovation for European graphic art of the 20\up5 th century, however, he trod it almost alone. The many variations of the portrait of his wife, Jacqueline, are an eloquent testimony to the intensive study of this technique, which Picasso understood in all its facets. The smooth printing surface of the linoleum plate, which was often criticized by other artists, was often subjected to a composition by Picasso that even emphasized the smoothness, instead of eliminating it optically through a rich internal life. The result is a unique oeuvre of mostly colored prints from several lino plates that must solely be ascribed to Picasso’s genius.

Picasso is considered the paragon of a modern artist who is forever searching for new means of expression. His enormous oeuvre is full of contrasts, broke with all academic restrictions and liberated art in the 20th century. [KD].




98
Pablo Picasso
Jaqueline au chapeau noir, 1962.
Linocut in colors
Estimate:
€ 50,000 / $ 54,000
Sold:
€ 61,000 / $ 65,880

(incl. surcharge)