Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris (acquired from the artist)

International Galleries, Chicago

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1973

Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, 172 Dessins en Noir et en Couleurs, 1972, no. 88

Chicago, International Art Galleries, Pablo Picasso, 1973, no. 51

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, oeuvres de 1971-1972, vol. 33, Paris, 1978, no. 420, illustrated pl. 150

The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawing and Sculpture.  The Final Years, 1970-1973, San Francisco, 2004, no. 72-158, illustrated p. 318

Executed on an off-white, smooth textured paper with deckled edges. There are small, light areas of discoloration at the upper left and right corners that correspond to the hinging material on the verso. There is a very slight amount of surface dirt from handling at the edges of the sheet. This work is in good condition.
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The elegance of line is Picasso's primary concern in this highly provocative depiction of two nudes.  The picture evidences how his impressive skill as a draughtsman remained strong even in his later years.  Picasso relishes in the fluidity and precision of the ink even in his dating of the work in the upper right corner, where the embellished number "2" becomes yet another graphic element of his composition.

As was the case for most of the female figures Picasso depicted at the end of his career, the women in this composition bear a striking resemblance to the artist's wife Jacqueline.  Although Picasso never had Jacqueline pose for him in his studio, her image dominated the artist's pictures in the last decades of his life.  This work, which can be considered a double-portrait of his demure companion, underscores the multiplicity of her influence in Picasso's life and art.