Pablo Picasso

Exhibited by David Tunick, Inc.

Material Brush, pen, and black ink on paper

Dimensions 267 x 184 mm. 10 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.

Place of Creation Paris, France

Price Price available on request

Status Not Vetted

About the Work

Picasso settled in Paris in 1901 and quickly immersed himself in the cultural activities the capital had to offer, including talks at the cafés and restaurants of the Latin Quarter, where artists, poets, actors, musicians, and academics gathered and debated. He records one such occasion, a lecture being delivered in a makeshift space by a tall, slim, self-absorbed “conférencier” dressed all in black with long, foppish hair and even longer fingers and hands. Picasso boldly admits to his participation in this gathering by depicting himself seated at the table in the lower right, his jet black hair pulled radically to one side, as he was accustomed to wearing it at the time.

As deft as Picasso is in capturing this moment, he is also forthright in his stylistic references: this drawing, while utterly his own, is deeply indebted to the English artist Audrey Beardsley (1872-1898), who often depicted such bohemian scenes in London in the 1890’s.

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Provenance

The Phillips Family Collection, U.S.A. (acquired by 1995);
By descent

Literature

Zervos, C., Pablo Picasso, Paris, 1970, vol. 22, no. 23, illus., p. 8

Fabre, J., Picasso: The Early Years: 1881-1907, New York, 1981, p. 539, no. 780, p. 313, illus.

Nassau County Museum of Art, La Belle Epoque [Exh. Cat.], 1995, p. 54, illus.