Lot 207
  • 207

Pablo Picasso

Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 GBP
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Description

  • Pablo Picasso
  • HOMME AU MOUTON, MANGEUR DE PASTÈQUE ET FLUTISTE
  • signed Picasso and dated 20.1.67. V (upper left)
  • wax crayon on paper
  • 49.5 by 64.4cm., 19 1/2 by 25 3/8 in.

Provenance

Fischer Fine Art, London
Brook Street Gallery, London
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 10th May 1995, lot 431
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin (purchased at the above sale)

Literature

Charles Feld, Picasso, Dessins 27.3.66-15.3.68, Paris, 1969, no. 79, illustrated n.p.
Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Œuvres de 1965 à 1967, Paris, 1972, vol. XXV, no. 268, illustrated pl. 122
The Picasso Project, Picasso Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Sixties II 1964-1967, San Francisco, 2002, no. 67-028, illustrated p. 274

Condition

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, attached to the mount at intermittent points along all four edges. This work is in good original condition. Colours: overall fairly accurate although the medium is slightly more subtle in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Homme au mouton, mangeur de pastèque et flutiste, like many of Picasso's drawings of 1966 and 1967, evokes the theme of the pastoral. In the present work, the scene represents a vision of Arcadian harmony and is indicative of the aging artist's desire to retreat from civilisation towards a bucolic rural idyll of classical Greece. The pastoral as a literary genre is by its very nature a timeless idyll, and is defined by being the antithesis of the urban, decaying world. This choice of subject is reflective of an aging Picasso's anxieties about both his increasingly imminent mortality and the state of modern society.