Pablo Picasso by Opera Gallery, Art et antiquités

operagallery.com

Pablo Picasso

September 2015

18 September - 18 October 2015

2 Orchard Turn # 04-15 ION Orchard 238801 Singapore T. + 65 6735 2618 - spore@operagallery.com Opening Hours Weekdays: 11 am - 8 pm • Weekends: 10 am - 8 pm

Preface

2015 marks the 50th Anniversary of Singapore’s independence, and such a substantial milestone calls for an exhibition of equal merit. It is with this in mind that we are proud to showcase one of the most illustrious names in 20th century art: Pablo Picasso. Heralded as one of the biggest names of Modern Art and one of the pioneers of Cubism, Picasso dramatically changed the landscape of his contemporary art scene. Excelling in various mediums and movements, Picasso strived to cast aside conventional ideals, driving forward and exploring new limits all the while establishing himself as one of the most important figures within the art 3

world. We are pleased to present to you these prestigious works by the world’s most illustrious and recognizable Modern artist, in an intimate setting for collectors and appreciators alike.

Gilles Dyan Founder and Chairman Opera Gallery Group

Stéphane Le Pelletier Director Opera Gallery Asia Pacific

Researching an illustrious figure such as Picasso is bound to elicit an array of polarizing definitions.

The life of Pablo Picasso began in Málaga, Spain on October 25th in 1881. Not a particularly bright

‘Genius’, surely, is one that repeats itself often, ‘visionary’ another. Tormented, manipulative,

student academically, at the age of eight Pablo was already displaying signs of artistic aptitude, a

misanthropic – also phrases that pepper history’s perception of the persona, a man whose namesake

talent his artistic parents recognized and encouraged. Moving to Barcelona after the tragic death of

ensued the archetypical illustration of the Modern artist. Saturated in superlatives (not to mention

his younger sister, Picasso was accepted into a local art school where he quickly excelled, graduating

history-making auction prices), Picasso’s legacy has been morphing steadily and consistently since

by the age of 14 to the advanced courses. He enrolled a couple years later in the prestigious Royal

his death in 1973. Separated from his public voice, the Picasso we experience today – assembled

Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, but soon after stopped attending classes and began instead

through his works, fragmented epithets, ex-lovers and surviving family – is an absorbing yet fabricated

to develop an art language independent from the traditional teachings at the institution. A flaneur

figure that whets our intrigue into the psyche of the eccentric man. Lionized for his creativity, the

drawn to the subversive, Picasso’s early works depicted the prostitutes, beggars and gypsies he

revelatory individual that was Pablo Picasso presented a vision of carnality and contradiction, raw

would come across in his long walks cutting class, and by 1899 the young artist had fallen out with

originality and available brilliance to a society fascinated as much with the human mind as with the

traditional methods and into a crowd of vagabond artists and intellectuals in Barcelona.

art it produced. Beyond his obvious contributions to the history of art, Picasso was and remains an art world rock star – a rebellious, paradoxical, emphatic communicator whose life and works

Moving to Paris at the turn of the 20th century marked a significant period in Picasso’s career. Young

demand to be deciphered.

and isolated, the works produced in his first three years in Paris are characterized by scenes of misery and isolated torment painted primarily in shades of blue and green. Deeply depressed following the

‘It takes a long time to become young’, mused an 85-year-old Picasso to a journalist in Cannes in 1966

suicide of his close friend, Picasso’s ‘Blue Period’ marked a profoundly melancholy psychological

who asked him to explain the transition from the somberness of his early painting to the exuberance

state in the artist’s life, while his cheerless paintings inspired little affection in potential buyers.

of his later work. Perhaps best-known for his contribution to the birth of Cubism together with

Settling in Montmartre in 1904 with the beautiful Fernande Olivier, Picasso gradually emerged

Georges Braque - that heroic collaboration that introduced the first truly modern movement in art

from his psychological abyss and began painting in lively, vivid hues of reds and pinks, a period

in 1907– Picasso’s iconic status was enhanced with each passing decade, a motif of modern art that

known as the ‘Rose Period’ that is believed to have culminated in the creation of the proto-Cubism

obliterated convention and scrutinized the nuances of change through metamorphoses and repetition.

masterpiece, The Ladies of Avignon.

Stunningly prolific (13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints and engravings, 34,000 book illustrations and 300 ceramics and sculptures have been attributed to his name over the course of a 75-year career),

Honing in on particular pieces from Picasso’s oeuvre would do well to elucidate periods of

Picasso’s oeuvre delineates the inner workings of a figure consumed by visual stimuli and external

personal and professional growth, however reductionary: the chilling, distorted prostitutes of the

attention, carefully documenting a lifetime that he knew would transcend his living self.

aforementioned The Ladies of Avignon as a precursor to Analytical Cubism; the 1921 Ladies at the

Spring that marked a brief yet somber return to Classical Realism; the momentous anguish and

and physical experience, from ambiguity to definition; love to lasciviousness; political freedom to

terror of war captured in the 1937 Guernica, a work that remains one of the most potent anti-

financial greed. Unapologetically himself, Picasso’s fame, publicly tumultuous love affairs and quote-

war paintings in history and revealed a political zealousness that defined much of Picasso’s work

worthy ‘Picassoisms’ may have overshadowed the art he produced later in his life, during a time

and persona in the years following World War II. Despite these transitions – some so varied they

when Surrealism and Post-Expressionism – influenced by his own Cubism – dominated the fine art

could have been the product of numerous masterful artists rather than just one – there exists an

conversation. Having proven himself a master, Picasso’s later works recall the raw honesty of his

inscrutable stealth at the centre of Picasso’s artistic identity that counters his increasing fame.

‘Blue Period’, a reminder to both himself and the public of his first and foremost love of making art.

Already the world’s most famous living artist, Picasso’s post-war works take a turn away from the creation of single masterpieces into the varying motif of creation itself, a curious shift into the realm 6

of the naïve, demonstrated through crude, childlike imagery that strikingly contrasted with the technical complexity of the Realism, Cubism and Surrealism that marked the previous forty years of creation. Painting with phenomenal speed in simplified forms, Picasso’s later years are characterized with a rapid, almost desperate rate of creation whereby the act of painting seems to transcend the artwork itself. Having proven himself a master of form and technique, these later pieces, made with a range of watercolours, felt-tip pens and coloured wax crayons, convey a dramatic reduction of form into purely compositional ideas, teasing concepts of productivity and repetition through a deeply humanist lens of wisdom and fear. In the spirit of singling out masterpieces, Picasso’s Self Portrait Facing Death, made with pencil and crayon the year before his death at age 91, epitomizes the artist’s focus at this stage in his life, serving as a stunning look into the cryptic eye of this loved and loathed modern genius. A scrupulous evaluator of medium and technique to achieve his desired emotion, Picasso’s penchant for style diversity speaks to a singular devotion to capturing the girth of human emotional

Gili Karev Curator

Nature morte au bougeoir et à la cruche, 29 January 1937 Dated ‘29-1-37’ (lower left) Oil on canvas 38.1 x 46 cm - 15 x 18.1 in. Price on request

Provenance Estate of the artist E. V. Thaw, New York Vivian Horan, New York

Exhibited Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Picasso, 3 Oct. 2002-2 Feb. 2003

Literature Picasso, 1901-1971, Galerie Claude Bernard, 1980, No. 15, ill. in colour Edward Quinn, Pierre Daix, The Private Picasso, 1987, ill. p. 151 and 159 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. Spanish Civil War 1937-1939, San Francisco 1997, No. 37-023 (a), ill. p. 11

Certificate Claude Ruiz-Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work

Tête de femme, 1 May 1944 Signed ‘Picasso’ (lower right) Oil on canvas 46 x 33 cm - 18.1 x 13 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louis Carré, Paris Diego della Valle, Milan Sale: Sotheby’s, London, 26 March 1985, lot 51 Private collection Sale: Franco Semanzato, Milan, 16 December 1998, lot 240 Carlo Corbelli, Brescia Private collection

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 13 : œuvres de 1943 et de 1944, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 2013, No. 268, ill. p. 132 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, 1940-1944, No. 44-060, ill. p. 336

Certificate Claude Ruiz-Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work

Nature morte, 13 July 1945 Signed Picasso (upper right) and dated ‘13 juillet 45’ (on the reverse) Oil on canvas 64.5 x 100 cm - 25.4 x 39.4 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Galerie Beyeler, Basel Jane Wade, New York (acquired from the above, 1969) Sale: Christie’s, London, 30 November 1976, lot 69 Private collection, Europe

Exhibited Culan, France, Château de Culan, Exposition Picasso, 1967, No. 28 Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Picasso - Werke von 1932-1965, 1967, No. 27, ill. in colour Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Picasso - Das Spätwerk, 1968, No. 4, ill. in colour

Literature Galerie Beyeler (ed.), Picasso, Basel, 1968, No. 72, ill. p. 107 Klaus Gallwitz, Picasso laureatus, Lucerne, 1971, No. 24, ill. p. 37

Certificate Claude-Ruiz Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work

Composition, 8 October 1948 Signed ‘Picasso’ and dated ‘8.10.48’ (upper left) Oil on board 30 x 40 cm - 11.8 x 15.7 in. Price on request

Provenance William Drown Ltd., London Sale: Sotheby’s, London, 7 July 1971, lot 43 Private collection (acquired at the above sale) Galerie Ile de France, Paris Galleria Gissi, Turin Galleria Seno, Milan Private collection, Italy (acquired from the above, 1980s)

Exhibited Turin, Galleria Gissi, Collettiva di Maggio 1980, 1980

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 15 : œuvres de 1946 à 1953, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1965, No. 80, ill. p. 48 Picasso, The Mediterranean Years, 1945-1962, Gagosian Gallery, London, 2010, ill. p. 62 (listed with incorrect dimensions)

Broc et verre, 16-17 April 1959 Signed ‘Picasso’ (upper right), dated and numbered ‘V.16.17.4.59.I’ (on the reverse) Oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm - 36.2 x 28.7 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Galleria Seno, Milan Private collection, Italy (1980)

Exhibited Barcelona, Sala Gaspar, 1960 Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, Picasso, Peintures, Vauvenargues 1959-1961, 1962, No. 11

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 18 : œuvres de 1958 à 1959, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1967, No. 442, ill. p. 130 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture: The Fifties II, 1956-1959, San Francisco, 2000, No. 59-136, ill. p. 315

Le Peintre et son modèle, 4 May 1963 Signed ‘Picasso’ (lower right); dated ‘4.5.63.’ (on the reverse) Oil on canvas 65 x 100 cm - 25.6 x 39.4 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Alexander Iolas, Paris Private collection, Europe (acquired from the above, 1982)

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 23 : œuvres de 1962 et 1963, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1971, No. 253, ill. p. 120 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Sixties I, 1960-1963, San Francisco, 2002, No. 63-130, ill. p. 367

Tête de faune, 24 January 1956 Signed, numbered and dated ‘Picasso 24.1.56.XI’ (on the reverse) Partially glazed ceramic tile, unique piece 20.5 x 20.5 cm - 8.1 x 8.1 in. Price on request

Literature Georges Ramié, Céramique de Picasso, éditions Cercle d’Art, Paris, 1974, No. 321, ill. p. 150

Certificate Alain Ramié has confirmed the authenticity of this work

Tête de faune, 14 April 1958 Signed and dated ‘Picasso 14.4.58.’ (lower right) Coloured wax crayons on paper 32.8 x 25.7 cm - 12.9 x 10.1 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Raymonde Cazenave, Paris Spiro Skyrus, Los Angeles Private collection (acquired from the above, 1975)

Certificate Claude Ruiz-Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work

Nu debout et trois têtes d’hommes, 4-5 February 1969 Signed, dated and numbered ‘Picasso 4.2.69 V 5.2.69’ (upper left) Coloured wax crayons on paper 44 x 31 cm - 17.3 x 12.2 in. Price on request

Provenance Sale: Christie’s, London, 30 June 1981, lot 173 Waddington Galleries, London Michelle Rosenfeld, New York Wolf Schulz Gallery, San Francisco Sale: Sotheby’s, New York, 10 May 1989, lot 241 Kunsthandel Frans Jacobs, Amsterdam Private collection, Amsterdam Sale: Christie’s, London, 9 December 1999, lot 595 Private collection (acquired at the above sale)

Exhibited Montreal, Landau Fine Art, Picasso and Léger, November-December 1991, No. 45

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 31 : œuvres de 1969, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1976, No. 54, ill. pl. 16 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Sixties III, 1968-1969, San Francisco, 2003, No. 69-052 ill. p. 103

Buste d’homme et femme nus, 2 June 1969 Signed and dated ‘Picasso 2.6.69.’ (lower right) Coloured wax crayons on paper 50.5 x 65 cm - 19.9 x 25.6 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris R.S. Johnson International Gallery, Chicago Private collection (acquired from the above, fall 1971; thence by descent)

Exhibited Chicago, R.S. Johnson International Gallery, Picasso, 20 Drawings, 1967-1971, fall 1971, p. 23, No. 6 (ill. titled Man and Woman)

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 31 : œuvres de 1969, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1976, No. 227, ill. p. 70 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Sixties III, 1968-1969, San Francisco, 2003, No. 69-230 (ill. with incorrect medium), p. 170

Fleurs, 3 May 1961 Signed, dated and dedicated ‘Pour Georges Picasso le 3.5.61.’ (lower right) Coloured wax crayons on toned paper 41.9 x 27.3 cm - 16.5 x 10.7 in. Price on request

Provenance Private collection (gift from the artist) Sale: Christie’s, London, 20 December 2006, lot 258 Private collection (acquired at the above sale)

Certificate Maya Widmaier-Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work Claude Ruiz-Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work

Maternité, circa 1899 Pastel on paper 47.8 x 40 cm - 18.8 x 15.7 in. Price on request

Provenance Yul Brynner collection (1970) Private collection Sale: Sotheby’s, 14 May 1997, lot 200 Private collection, Monaco

Literature Alan Wofsy Fine Arts LLC Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawing and Sculptures, Youth in Spain II, 1897 - 1900 (titled ‘Nourrice allaitant un enfant dans un parc’)

Certificate Pablo Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work and dedicated it to Yul Brynner

Saltimbanque et jeune fille, 1905 Signed ‘Picasso’ (lower left) Watercolour and charcoal on paper laid on card 29 x 18.5 cm - 11.4 x 7.3 in. Price on request

Provenance Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Paris, (No. 1736) Justin K. Thannhauser, Munich, Berlin, Paris, New York and Bern (No. 40164) Mrs. Justin K. Thannhauser, Bern Sale: Christie’s, New York, Nov. 1998

Exhibited Bern Kunst Museum, Sammlung Justin K. Thannhauser, 1978, No. 31, p. 110, ill. p. 70 Washington DC, the National Gallery of Art, Picasso, Saltimbanques, 1980-1981 Barcelona, Museo Picasso Bern Kunst Museum, Picasso 1905-06, From the Rose Period to the Ochres of Gosol, 1992, No. 213, ill. p. 350 Munich Haus des Kunst: Pierrot Melancolie and Maske, 1995, No. 59, ill. p. 136

Literature Christian Zervos, Picasso, vol. 6 : supplément aux vol. 1 à 5, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1954, No. 697, ill. p. 85 Pierre Daix and Georges Boudaille, The Blue and Rose Periods: a Catalogue raisonné of the paintings, 1900-1906, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1967, DXRII, 1ç, ill. p. 271 Pierre Daix, Tout l’œuvre peint de Picasso, périodes bleue et rose, Paris, 1968, No. 188, ill. p. 102

Corrida Toros, 3 March 1951 Signed and dedicated ‘Para Andrés Castel de vas amigo, Picasso’ (lower right), inscribed and dated ‘Vallauris le 3.3.58’ (lower left) Brush and ink on paper 21 x 27 cm - 8.2 x 10.6 in. Price on request

Provenance Andrés Castel (gift from the artist, March 1951) Private collection (acquired from the above) Sale: Sotheby’s, London, 25 June 2009, Lot 155 Private collection, Spain (acquired at the above sale)

Exhibited Prague Municipal House, Tauromaquia - Face to Face with the Bull, 12/09/2011 - 04/09/2012 Museum of Architecture, Wroclaw, Poland, Picasso/Dalí/Goya - Tauromachia, The Bullfight, July 2014 - November 2014

Literature Tauromaquia - Picasso, Dalí, Goya, Filla, Capek, Carlo Cambi Editore, 2012

Certificate Claude-Ruiz Picasso and Maya Widmaier-Picasso have confirmed the authenticity of this work

Quatre personnages, 2 October 1968 Signed, dated and numbered ‘2.10.68. IV Picasso’ (centre left) Pen and India ink on paper 50 x 65.5 cm - 19.7 x 25.8 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Herman C. Goldsmith, New York Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York Evelyn Aimis Fine Art, Miami (acquired from the above) Private collection (acquired from the above, 1989) Sale: Christie’s, London, 10 Feb. 2005, lot 687 Private collection

Exhibited New York, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Picasso, The Late Drawings, Jan. - Feb. 1988, No. 21, ill.

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 27 : œuvres de 1967 et 1968, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1973, No. 318, ill. p. 122 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Sculptures: The Sixties III, 1968-1969, San Francisco, 2003, No. 68-158, ill. p. 47

Musicienne et nu assis, 30 January 1968 Signed, dated and numbered ‘Picasso 30.1.68 V’ (lower right) Pencil on paper 30 x 48 cm - 11.8 x 18.9 in. Price on request

Provenance Sale: Christie’s, New York, 16 May 1985, lot 213 Private collection (aquired at the above sale) Sale: Christie’s, London, 7 Feb. 2002, lot 413 Private collection, UK (aquired at the above sale)

Literature René Char & Charles Feld, Picasso, Les Dessins du 27.3.66 au 15.3.68, Paris, 1969, No. 356, ill. n.pag. (listed with incorrect dimensions) Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 27 : œuvres de 1967 et 1968, éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1973, No. 225, ill. p. 88 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Sixties III, 1968-1969, San Francisco, 2003, No. 68-039, ill. p. 11

Le Bain, 27 January 1968 Signed, dated and numbered ‘Picasso 27.1.68.VI’ (lower right) Pencil on paper 24 x 29.5 cm - 9.4 x 11.6 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Saidenberg Gallery, New York Mena W. Rosenthal, New York Sale: Sotheby’s, New York, 17 May 1990, lot 213 Saidenberg Gallery, New York (acquired at the above sale) Bali Miller, New York Peter B. Lewis collection (aquired from the above, 19 March 1998)

Literature Charles Feld, Picasso, His Recent Drawings, 1966-1968, New York, 1969, No. 346, ill. n.p. Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 27 : œuvres de 1967 et 1968, éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1973, No. 201, ill. p. 77 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Sixties III, 1968-1969, San Francisco, 2003, No. 68-029, ill. p. 9

Deux personnages et tête, 26 February 1969 Signed and dated ‘Picasso 26.2.69.’ (upper right) Blue felt-tip pen on toned paper 31 x 44 cm - 12.2 x 17.3 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris The Lefevre Gallery (Alex. Reid & Lefevre, Ltd.), London Private collection (circa 1975)

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 31 : œuvres de 1969, éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1976, No. 79, ill. p. 26 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Sixties III, 1968-1969, San Francisco, 2003, No. 69-079 ill. p. 113

Certificate Alex Reid & Lefevre, Ltd. (The Lefevre Gallery) have confirmed the authenticity of this work

Nu debout et homme tenant un verre, 6 August 1972 Signed, numbered and dated ‘Dimanche 6 août 1972.I Picasso’ (lower left) Ink on paper 35.5 x 42 cm - 14 x 16.5 in. Price on request

Provenance Galerie Taménaga, Paris

Exhibited Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, 172 Dessins en noir et en couleurs, 1972, No. 155

Literature Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 33 : œuvres de 1971-1972, Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1978, No. 492, ill. p. 168 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Final Years 1970-1973, San Francisco, 2004, No. 72-232, ill. p. 340

Le Peintre et sa toile, 5 July 1964 Signed Picasso (lower right) and dated ‘5.7.64’ (upper right) Gouache and brush and ink over rincé linoleum cut print on paper 62.3 x 75 cm - 24.5 x 29.5 in. Price on request

Provenance Private collection, Tokyo Private collection (acquired from the above, 2013)

Literature Brigitte Baer, Picasso peintre-graveur, Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre gravé et des monotypes, 1959-1965, Bern, 1986, No. 1355, another version ill. p. 533 The Picasso Project (ed.), Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, The Complete Linoleum Cuts 1939-1968, San Francisco, 2012, No. L-181, ill. of other versions pp. 236-37

Centaure et bacchante avec un faune, 2 Febuary 1947 Signed ‘Picasso’ in blue pencil, dated and numbered ‘2.2.47. 28/50’ (lower right) Lithograph on Arches, edition of 50 + 5 AP 49 x 64 cm - 19.3 x 25.2 in. Price on request

Literature Georges Bloch, Picasso : Catalogue de l’œuvre gravé et lithographié, 1904-1967, Tome 1, Editions Kornfeld et Klipstein, Berne, 1968, No. 417, ill. p. 116

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;It takes a long time to become youngâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

David Mach, Portrait of Picasso, 2010 Courtesy of the artist

Biography

1881

October 25th: Birth of Pablo Picasso in Malaga, Spain. His father, Don José Ruiz Blasco, is an art teacher.

1884

December 20th: Birth of Pablo’s first sister, Dolores, called Lola.

1885 October 30th: Birth of Pablo’s second sister, Conchita.

1891

The family moves to Corona.

1894

The artist’s very first oil portraits of his family, signed ‘P. Ruiz’.

1895

Discovers Madrid and Barcelona.

1896

Moves to Barcelona. Studies at the School of Fine Arts. The death of his sister Conchita will mark Pablo for the rest of his life.

1898

Spends the summer at Horta de Ebro with his friend Pallares.

1899

Returns to Barcelona where he meets painters who will remain his friends for the rest of his life. He is adopted by the intellectual circle of the Café ‘Els Quatre Gats’.

1900 Moves to the old sector of Barcelona. October - December: His first trip to Paris with his friend Casagemas. Christmas in Malaga. 1901

End January: Picasso travels to Madrid. Casagemas commits suicide; Picasso paints La Mort de Casagemas. April: He exhibits his work in Barcelona but does not attend the opening ceremony, preferring to travel to Paris to prepare for his first show at Gallery Vollard. Meets Max Jacob. September 9th: Death of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Picasso is very affected, feeling like the heir to the famous deceased painter. He definitively adopts the name Picasso. Beginning of his Blue Period.

1902

Early: Returns to Barcelona where he continues to paint. Returns to Paris in the winter to reunite with Max Jacob.

1903

Returns to Barcelona. Picasso starts one of his most famous pieces from the Blue Period: La Vie.

1904

Spring: Establishes permanent residence in Paris. June: Moves into the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre. First encounters with Fernande Olivier, who becomes his model and companion for seven years. Fall: Meets Guillaume Apollinaire and André Salmon.

1905

Beginning of his Pink Period. Les Saltimbanques exhibition. Paints Gertrude Stein’s portrait.

1906

His Parisian broker, Ambroise Vollard, buys his entire studio for 2,000 French francs. Meets Matisse at the Manet-Redon exhibition at the Durand-Ruel Gallery. October: First attempts at Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

1907 Summer: D.H. Kahnweiler visits Picasso’s studio at the Bateau-Lavoir. Vollard again buys his entire studio for 2,500 French francs (not including Les Demoiselles d’Avignon). Apollinaire introduces Georges Braque to Picasso.

1907

With Braque, the artist produces paintings that will be called ‘cubistic’.

1908

January 24th: André Level buys La Famille des saltimbanques for 1,000 French francs.

1909

Fall: Leaves the Bateau-Lavoir for a new studio located at 11, boulevard de Clichy. First fragmented sculpture: Tête de Fernande.

1910

Summer at Cadaques. Fall: Returns to Paris. Finishes portraits of Vollard and Kahnweiler, the latter becomes his main broker.

1911

Summer: Picasso leaves alone for Céret. His first works of Analytic Cubism. Begins a love-affair with Eva Gouel. Paints Ma Jolie.

1912

Mid-January: Starts up a new studio at the Bateau-Lavoir. Mai 18th: He leaves secretly with Eva for Céret, then on to Avignon and Sorgues where he paints his first ‘Arlésienne’ (Woman from Arles) cubism portrait. September 23rd: Moves in with Eva, at 242 boulevard Raspail near Montparnasse.

1913

Paints a portrait of Apollinaire for publication in his collection of poems: Alcools.

1914

Braque and Derain are drafted in the War. Picasso, being Spanish (a neutral country) is not called. He accompanies them to the Avignon train station.

1915

Braque is seriously wounded and has to undergo trepanation. December 14th: Death of Eva Gouel, Picasso is beyond depression. The musician Edgard Varèse introduces him to Jean Cocteau.

1916 February 17th: Picasso travels to Rome with Cocteau. March 17th: Apollinaire suffers a wound to the head. May: Cocteau introduces Picasso to Diaghilev, a producer of the Russian Ballets. Together they produce the Parade Ballet; Picasso designs the set and costumes. July: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon shown at the Salon d’Antin. Meets Stravinsky and Olga Khokhlova, a star ballerina, the artist falls in love. End November: Returns to Paris. Moves into the Hôtel Lutetia with Olga. 1918

July 12th: Marries Olga at the Russian Church in Paris. November 9th: Death of Apollinaire. End November: Picasso moves with Olga to 23, bis rue de la Boétie.

1919 May: Leaves for London to work on Diaghilev’s ballet. Beginning of his ‘return to order’. 1921

February 4th: Birth of Paulo. Picasso turns 40 in October.

1922

Summer in Dinard. Paints Deux femmes courant sur la plage. Designs the set for Cocteau’s Antigone.

1924

Designs the set and costumes for the ballet Mercure.

1925 Aggressive compositions. à 1926 Summer in Juan-les-Pins. First publication in Cahiers d’Art by Christian Zervos. 1927

January: Meets Marie-Thérèse Walter who is seventeen years old. Falls head over eals in love with her. Sexually aggressive themes.

1928

Prepares sculptures using wire.

1929

Summers at Dinard.

1948

Moves with Françoise Gilot to Vallauris.

1930

June: Buys the Château de Boisgeloup. Fall: Secretly moves Marie-Thérèse into a flat at 44, rue de La Boétie.

1931

May: Moves permanently to Boisgeloup.

1949

April 19th: Birth of Paloma Picasso. New season of sculptures. Picasso paints La Colombe de la paix.

1932

Produces large sculpted heads of Marie-Thérèse. First use of the Minotaur in his works.

1934

Summer: Travels to Spain. Paints a series of Bull Fights.

1935

Marie-Thérèse is pregnant with Maya. Separation from Olga. Stops painting until 1937.

1936

Picasso retrospective in Barcelona. July: War breaks out in Spain. Picasso appointed Director of the Prado Museum in Madrid. Meets the Yugoslav photographer Dora Maar.

1937 April 26th: The city of Guernica is bombed. Dora Maar finds the studio at Grands-Augustins so that Picasso can paint Guernica. Mid-June: Guernica showed at the Spanish Pavilion at the World Fair in Paris. Summer in Mougins with the Eluard couple. He paints Lee Miller in Arlesian style on several occasions. October-December: Paints La Femme qui pleure. 1938

Paints women’s faces that are more and more distorted.

1939

Moves to Royan after the beginning of World War II.

1940

April 3rd: Picasso files for French citizenship. Mid-May: Beginning of France’s problems with Germany. June 14th: Paris falls to the Germans. August 25th: Returns to his Grands-Augustins studio with Dora Maar. Marie-Thérèse and Maya remain in Royan.

1941 January: Picasso writes a surrealistic piece, Le Désir attrapé par la queue. à 1942 1943

Sculpture of L’Homme au mouton in bronze. May: Meets Françoise Gilot.

1944 Max Jacob dies in the Drancy concentration camp. August: Paris is liberated. Picasso participates for the first time in the Salon d’Automne with 74 paintings and six sculptures. 1945 Composes Le Charnier. Buys a house in Ménerbes that he gives to Dora Maar. 1946

Picasso and Françoise Gilot spend the summer in Antibes. Picasso paints La Joie de vivre.

1947 May 15th: Birth of Claude Picasso. Starts producing ceramic objects in Vallauris.

1949 Produces the panels for War and Peace. à 1951 Major Picasso retrospective in Japan marking his 70th birthday. 1952

Death of Paul Eluard.

1953

Françoise Gilot leaves for Paris with the children.

1954

Portraits of Sylvette David. Meets Jacqueline Roque who works at Madoura’s. Beginning of the season of variations on Femmes d’Alger by Delacroix.

1955

February 1st: Death of Olga. Picasso buys the Villa La Californie in Cannes. Moves in with Jacqueline. Starts his work on Les Ménines by Velázquez.

1958

September: Buys the Château de Vauvenargues at the foot of Mount Saint-Victoire, so dear to Cézanne. Paints several ‘Arlesian’ portraits of Jacqueline.

1959

First trips to Vauvenargues.

1960

Retrospectives at the Tate Gallery in London.

1961

Picasso marries Jacqueline Roque in Vallauris and moves to Mougins.

1963

Opening of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. October 11th: Death of Jean Cocteau.

1964

January 11th: Retrospective in Toronto, then Tokyo.

1965

November: The artist undergoes surgery for a stomach ulcer at the American Hospital in Neuilly, near Paris.

1966

Tribute to Picasso at the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, Paris. Picasso is evicted from his Grands-Augustins studio.

1967

Picasso refuses the Legion of Honour.

1968

February 13th: Death of Sabartés, his secretary and friend.

1970 May 1st: 167 paintings are exposed at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, by Christian and Yvonne Zervos. 1968 Very prolific period. à 1972 1973

April 8th: Picasso dies in Mougins. April 10th: He is buried at the Château de Vauvenargues.

Supported by

operagallery.com