Pablo Picasso

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris (acquired from the artist)

Galerie Beyeler, Basel

Sale: Phillips, London, June 29, 1988, lot 44

Private Collection, Japan

Sotheby's Private Sales, New York

Acquired by the present owner in 1999

Good and stable condition. The canvas is lined. The pigment is stable. Under UV light, there are scattered retouching primarily in the blue and green to the right of the composition and to the framing edges.
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.

Verre et fruits is one of a number of still-lifes that Picasso painted in the early 1920s, when the artist revised his pre-war Cubist experiments. With the sobriety of the war years behind him, Picasso began to combine pure color with powerful linear black shading to express volume and space. In 1938 Gertrude Stein wrote: "During this period... the cubic forms were continually being replaced by surfaces and lines, the lines were more important than anything else, they lived by and in themselves, he painted his pictures not by means of his objects, but by the lines" (G. Stein, Picasso, London, 1938, pp. 27-8).

In the present work, Picasso combines both natural and Cubist elements, abandoning the decorative approach for a bold linearity and angularity of forms. Although the bottle and glass have been elementalized, the composition is enlivened by bold patterns and thick horizontal and vertical lines resulting in a complex construction of flat, interlocking planes. 

Discussing this phase of Picasso's Cubism, John Richardson notes that these still-lifes "are astonishingly varied in their dazzling colours, elaborate patterning, rich textures and complex compositions. No longer did Picasso feel obliged to investigate the intricate formal and spatial problems that had preoccupied him ten years before. Instead he felt free to relax and exploit his cubist discoveries in a decorative manner that delights the eye" (J. Richardson, Picasso, An American Tribute (exhibition catalogue), Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1962).