Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris

James Francis Trezza, New York (2000)

Private Collection, Argentina

Private Collection, Connecticut

Acquired by the present owner in 2009

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1956 à 1957, vol. 17, Paris, 1966, no. 50, illustrated pl. 20

The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Fifties II, 1956-1959, San Francisco, 2000, no. 56-050, illustrated p. 16

This painting is in excellent original condition, aside from very light surface dirt. Canvas is unlined. Under UV light no inpainting is apparent.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present work was inspired by Jacqueline Roque, Picasso's principal muse of his last twenty years. Picasso painted this picture only a few years after having met her in the Madoura studio shop, where she worked and Picasso created many of his ceramics. Femme assise sur fond bleu-rouge was painted at the Villa La Californie, situated in the hills overlooking Cannes and the Mediterranean. The couple settled here in 1955 after Picasso ended his relationship with Françoise Gilot, representing the beginning of a new life together and a time of happiness and tranquility for Picasso. During this period, "Picasso was... scarcely concerned to mirror the outside world. Instead, he took his own work as the center of the creative universe."  Serving as the backdrop for his artwork, the environment at La Californie "prompted assured, harmonious paintings, among the finest of Picasso's old age, combining simple representation with the techniques of his Cubist period in sophisticated ways" (Carsten–Peter Warncke, Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Volume II: The Works 1937-1973, Bonn, 1991, pp. 513-515).

In the present composition, Jacqueline is seated in an armchair in Picasso's studio. A consistent theme in other Jacqueline portraits, this particular chair with its caned, rounded high back clearly resembles Picasso's favorite rocking chair which followed him to many homes. The old chair is a frequent symbol for Jacqueline in Picasso's art, from posing in it for her first portrait to being memorialized in many photographs and paintings of their home. Later in 1960, Picasso painted a series of three portraits in another chair on the same day (fig. 3) all with varying compositions.

In the present work, the pattern and shape of the chair counteract the flat planes of color which compose the background and project Jacqueline's form to the front of the canvas. Picasso converts one of his line drawings of her figure by manipulating the distinct angles of her face to create a more dimensional and vivid image. Jacqueline's face is shown frontally, displaying shadows that contrast with light on the chin and nose. Picasso's palette of stark black and white lines accentuates her stunning dark hair and definitive facial features, while highlights of electric blue and red give the present composition its charged effect.

Reflecting on Jacqueline's inspiration in Picasso's art, Klaus Gallwitz writes, "Every one of these multifarious portraits of Jacqueline not only presents a new formal concept but also opens up new psychological realms, reflected outwardly through posture, glance, and color. In Jacqueline, Picasso found the portrait 'figure' which would pervade his pictures in the coming years, sometimes recognizably characterized, sometimes used ambiguously. Through her presence in his life she is present in his art too" (K. Gallwitz, Picasso, The Heroic Years, New York, 1985, p. 90).