Georges Terzian

French, (Contemporary)

George Terzian is a French Postwar & Contemporary painter known for his vibrant, abstract and geometric compositions. Terzian moved to Paris in the 1960s and became a cabaret singer which enabled him to pursue his passion for painting. There he would turn to the cubist style for which he is celebrated, forming a synthesis of Picasso, Braque and Leger’s early work in his unique, post cubist style.

Terzian's work is heavily influenced by the geometric abstraction movement, which emerged in the early twentieth century and emphasizes the use of geometric shapes and forms to create abstract compositions. His paintings are characterized by their precise and clean lines, bold colors, and geometric shapes. He often uses a limited palette of colors, such as black and white, to create a sense of harmony and balance in his compositions.

Terzian was born in Marseille in 1939, to parents of Armenian descent. His family had left their homeland for Russia at the start of the twentieth century, although they would then settle in France shortly before the artist’s birth. Georges took an early interest in drawing and painting, and his parents therefore encouraged him to join the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Marseilles at the age of fourteen. From a studio in Sainte-Miter, he would experiment with impressionist techniques en plein air in the Provençal countryside, working in gouache and oils in a manner reminiscent of Cèzanne, continually honing his technique.

Yet Terzian was clearly a man with an eclectic taste which ran beyond his skill as an artist. In the midst of his studies in art school, Terzian discovered a love of boot making, which prompted him to interrupt his education for over a year while he studied the craft. When he moved to Paris at the age of twenty, he also elected to study music, and took lessons from the famous singer Jean Lumière. In fact, while his style began to transition towards cubism in the early 1960s, it was his job as a cabaret singer which would support the young artist financially. It is easy to see Terzian’s polymathic nature in his mature paintings, which draw from a wide range of styles and cultures to create their inimitable modernist feel. His musical studies in particular bring a symphonic, lyrical quality to his works reminiscent of artists such as Kandinsky.

The influence of the work of Picasso, Braque and Leger remains constant throughout his oeuvre, while maintaining a personal style. His iconography also draws on the North African cultures Terzian interacted with during his many stays in Africa, alongside Russian constructivist motifs from his time living in Moscow.

Throughout his career, Terzian has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in France and internationally, and he continues to paint from his studio in Paris. Following a one-man exhibition of his work at the Parisian Giovanni gallery in 2007 his works have become increasingly wellknown on the international stage. The public interest in his works has also led to his much rarer early works gaining a particular popularity.

Pablo Picasso Spanish (1881–1973)

"It is Jacqueline’s images that dominates Picasso’s work from 1954 until his death, longer than any of the women who preceded her. It is her body that we are able to explore more exhaustively and more intimately than any other body in the history of art."

Jacqueline au Bandeau

Conceived in 1962, Cast in bronze in 1964

Bronze relief sculpture cast from a linocut

34.6 x 26.6 cms, /13½” x 10½”

Stamped with the foundry mark ‘E. GodArd Fondr Paris’

Unnumbered edition of 2

Provenance

Estate of the Artist

Marina Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter; acquired from the above. Gladwell & Patterson, London; acquired from the above in 2022.

Claude Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Pablo Picasso’s Jacqueline au Bandeau encapsulates the startling vitality of the artist’s late period, memorialising not only the expressive style which he pioneered; but also his reinvention of the possibilities of printmaking. Picasso commissioned this bronze relief in 1964, of an original linocut entitled Femme au Cheveux Flous, which he created two years prior, as a unique encapsulation of one of his most accomplished print series. Cherished first by Picasso and then his descendants for nearly sixty years, we are proud to present this distinctive work to the public for the first time.

Following his marriage to Jacqueline Roque in 1961, Picasso would embark upon a period of intense experimentation and production, which would characterise his final decade. In these years, the great artist focused his gaze upon subjects he considered to be pure archetypes; foremost amongst these were the face of his muse, Jacqueline.

Picasso always experienced bursts of creative energy when in love, and Jacqueline au Bandeau was conceived in 1962 only shortly after his marriage, one of a group of portraits testifying to his intensity of feeling. More than simple representations, Picasso composed his portraits of Jacqueline from memory, creating some of his most personal and subjective interpretations of the human character.

Yet beyond its striking visuals, Jacqueline au Bandeau stands as a near-unique material record of Picasso’s revolutionary impact on the print medium. In the early 1960s, Picasso would pioneer the reductive method of producing linocuts, greatly expanding the technical possibilities it afforded artists.

Aware of his achievement, Picasso chose to memorialise a small selection his best linocuts in bronze, transforming them into accomplished relief sculptures in their own right. Each line and groove of Jacqueline au Bandeau therefore represents a rare physical imprint of Picasso’s hand as he worked and reworked the printing block. A testament to both stylistic and technical innovation, Picasso’s bronze relief offers the viewer an outstanding opportunity to experience a direct material connection to his genius.

Pablo Picasso

Spanish (1881–1973)

La Serrure

Knitted Wool Tapestry

Designed and Created in 1955

205 x 150 cms ; 81” x 59”

Signed ‘Picasso’

Provenance

Commissioned by Marie Cuttoli.

Lucie Weill Gallery.

Private Collection; France.

Gladwell & Patterson, London; acquired in 2022.

Claude Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Out of all of Picasso’s unrivalled contributions to twentieth century culture, his successes in elevating decorative media to the status of a fine art is perhaps his most significant legacy. From collage, to ceramics, to printmaking, he continually sought to expand the material language of art; yet the field upon which he had the greatest impact were tapestries and textiles. La Serrure , a knitted wool tapestry designed by the artist and made in 1955, thus stands as an encapsulation of his achievement.

La Serrure was commissioned in 1955 by Marie Cuttoli, a French designer instrumental in the resurgence of twentieth-century tapestry. Cuttoli had, from the 1930s, enlisted a range of artists (including Miró, Man Ray, Leger, Braque and Picasso) to support her project of rescuing the status of textile art. The importance and extent of her contribution is the subject of numerous exhibitions and studies to this day.

The design process involved Picasso creating a cartoon, a to-scale design on cardboard, which was then sent to weavers for manufacture. Throughout the creation of the final tapestry, Picasso periodically checked the unfinished work to ensure its quality was at the highest standard and it was being made according to his plans.

La Serrure is unique amongst Picasso’s woven creations for its use of an original composition. Picasso’s tapestries were often produced as reinterpretations and reproductions of his canvases, most famously in the case of Picasso’s monumental Guernica of 1937, which hung outside the chambers of the Security Council of the UN. There is no painted precedent for La Serrure The textile thus stands as an artwork in its own right.

Translated as ‘The Lock’, La Serrure is a fine example of Picasso’s confidence in translating his style across media. Intended to be used as a carpet, the image of a figure appearing through a keyhole alludes to the domestic setting implied by the artwork in a way rarely attempted by Picasso. The motif of the dove in the upper left corner, outlined in both black and green plays homage to the recurring motif of La Colombe that Picasso incorporates into his work throughout his oeuvre. Standing as a symbol of peace, its presence in the domestic setting is a deeply personal motif for Picasso, who adored animals, and allowed them to run freely around his house and studio. The vibrant colours of red and green with the lineal outlines of the subject in black are juxtaposed against the cream background, revealing Picasso’s confident approach to interior furnishings.

Gladwell & Patterson, London

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5 Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1NG

Gladwells Rutland, Oakham

Situated in a beautiful historic market town in the very heart of Rutland, England’s smallest county, our country outpost has become a must visit destination for many. Away from the hustle and bustle of London, it is definitely worth taking the time to come and visit us here. 23b

Index

Georges Bauquier p.30-33

Donald Hamilton Fraser p. 6-9

Ivon Hitchens p.18-25

David Leverett p. 2-5

Pablo Picasso p. 38-45

Goeorges Terzian p. 34-37

Kenneth Webb p. 26-29

Peter Wileman p. 10-17

For further information on any of these artworks please contact the gallery

Glenn Fuller (Director) glenn@gladwellpatterson.com +44 (0)776 782 4245

Research: Will Stewart and Ella Wells, Design: Ella Wells

All Rights Reserved Gladwell & Patterson, 2023