Decade 1930-1939
See also : Painting Sculpture Bust The Woman Nude Animals Bird Picasso Picasso 1930s Eastern Europe Germany Germany II
1932 Picasso in Love
2010 SOLD 106.5 M$ including premium
A masterpiece of Picasso is assessed from afar. The grammar of the master, which so varied over the years, is perfectly recognizable. And yet, the observer has the impression of seeing something new.
On March 8, 1932 this young man of 50 years wants to express the strength of his love for Marie-Thérèse Walter. The result is that Nude, green leaves and bust for sale by Christie's on May 4 in New York.
The young woman is glorified twice: despite the stylization typical of the Picassos of that time, the bust looks unmistakably similar as the head of the nude. The young woman sleeps peacefully, lying on her back, offered in the nude before the artist's eyes. The leaves symbolize the force of spring ... and that of the painter, for sure. The bright colors in flat areas increase the perfect legibility of the work. The painting is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity
This lot has many qualities. It is large (162 x 130 cm). It was recorded, but was not shown to the public for half a century. It comes from a prestigious collection, alongside one of the most beautiful nudes by Matisse that I will discuss later.
The auction house does not publish a price, though this painting is sold from an estate. When one likes it, one does not discuss money for it.
POST SALE COMMENT
The record was announced, the record is registered: $ 106.5 million including premium.
This is not a surprise, because it is a masterpiece for which Christie's has finely worked the promotion.
At this level, the media coverage of the sale is also promoting the buyer. One can expect that this price is exceeded by another work of art in the coming months. To be followed!
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
On March 8, 1932 this young man of 50 years wants to express the strength of his love for Marie-Thérèse Walter. The result is that Nude, green leaves and bust for sale by Christie's on May 4 in New York.
The young woman is glorified twice: despite the stylization typical of the Picassos of that time, the bust looks unmistakably similar as the head of the nude. The young woman sleeps peacefully, lying on her back, offered in the nude before the artist's eyes. The leaves symbolize the force of spring ... and that of the painter, for sure. The bright colors in flat areas increase the perfect legibility of the work. The painting is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity
This lot has many qualities. It is large (162 x 130 cm). It was recorded, but was not shown to the public for half a century. It comes from a prestigious collection, alongside one of the most beautiful nudes by Matisse that I will discuss later.
The auction house does not publish a price, though this painting is sold from an estate. When one likes it, one does not discuss money for it.
POST SALE COMMENT
The record was announced, the record is registered: $ 106.5 million including premium.
This is not a surprise, because it is a masterpiece for which Christie's has finely worked the promotion.
At this level, the media coverage of the sale is also promoting the buyer. One can expect that this price is exceeded by another work of art in the coming months. To be followed!
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1932 The Faceless Head
2018 SOLD for $ 71M including premium
Being a muse for Brancusi was not a difficult task. He had met Margit Pogany very briefly in 1910 but liked the shape of her head which inspired him until the mid-1920s.
The heads sculpted by Brancusi are not abstract. He considers that everything that overflows, mainly nose and ears, is inappropriate to express the deep reality of a portrait. He gradually reduces these growths to a surface carving up to removing them completely.
Around 1925 he made a wooden bust 55 cm high on the theme of La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée. He takes Nancy Cunard as a model, without telling her. The heiress of the Cunard shipowners, she has an eccentric life that symbolizes the roaring twenties in the Parisian literary and artistic circles. She is sexually liberated and anarchist, and her attires are inspired by Africa.
The almost abstract head is indeed a portrait. Comparing with the photos of the period, we recognize the bulging forehead and the receding chin, and the stiff neck from behind. This disturbing muse always offers in the photos an unpleasant pout that we imagine also through the rare incisions of the sculpture. The pinched bun is an evocation of her signature bunches.
Brancusi made a plaster in 1928 and a unique polished bronze in 1932. This bronze is still installed on the marble base designed by the artist, for a total height of 80 cm. It will be sold at lot 19 A by Christie's in New York on May 15. Please watch the videoshared by the auction house.
Nancy Cunard discovered many years later that she had served as a model for this artwork. After hesitating in its interpretation as a bust or a torso, she expressed her admiration for the artist.
The heads sculpted by Brancusi are not abstract. He considers that everything that overflows, mainly nose and ears, is inappropriate to express the deep reality of a portrait. He gradually reduces these growths to a surface carving up to removing them completely.
Around 1925 he made a wooden bust 55 cm high on the theme of La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée. He takes Nancy Cunard as a model, without telling her. The heiress of the Cunard shipowners, she has an eccentric life that symbolizes the roaring twenties in the Parisian literary and artistic circles. She is sexually liberated and anarchist, and her attires are inspired by Africa.
The almost abstract head is indeed a portrait. Comparing with the photos of the period, we recognize the bulging forehead and the receding chin, and the stiff neck from behind. This disturbing muse always offers in the photos an unpleasant pout that we imagine also through the rare incisions of the sculpture. The pinched bun is an evocation of her signature bunches.
Brancusi made a plaster in 1928 and a unique polished bronze in 1932. This bronze is still installed on the marble base designed by the artist, for a total height of 80 cm. It will be sold at lot 19 A by Christie's in New York on May 15. Please watch the videoshared by the auction house.
Nancy Cunard discovered many years later that she had served as a model for this artwork. After hesitating in its interpretation as a bust or a torso, she expressed her admiration for the artist.
1932 The Muse of Boisgeloup
2018 SOLD for £ 42M including premium
Picasso is dazzled by the blonde beauty of Marie-Thérèse Walter when he meets her by chance on January 8 of a year that has not been identified with certainty. Sweet and docile, she agrees to become his muse. Picasso is married to Olga and his affair with Marie-Thérèse is illegal. Cautiously he waits before portraying his girlfriend in erotic positions.
Marie-Thérèse attains her legal majority on July 13, 1930, thus putting an end to the torment of Tantalus of her passionate lover. Olga has not yet discovered this infidelity. Remaining cautious, Picasso buys the château of Boisgeloup in the same month to install away from Paris his mistress and his second studio. In 1931 he carves many busts where he captures the roundnesses of the head and face of Marie-Thérèse.
In 1932 the artist can no longer restrain his erotic impulses. The role of Marie-Thérèse is easy to perform : Pablo adores her when she sleeps. Le Rêve, famous for its innocent and sexual dual reading, is painted on January 24. This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas was sold for $ 48M including premium by Christie's on November 10, 1997.
In March Picasso realizes a series of sleeping nudes, from memory in Paris or from live in Boisgeloup. The Nu, Feuilles vertes et Buste painted on March 8, 162 x 130 cm, is emblematic of this series by its finish, with simple lines and pure colors that once again aim to compete with Matisse. It was sold for $ 106M including premium by Christie's on May 4, 2010.
On March 12 Le Miroir, 130 x 97 cm, introduces a new audacity, the reflection allowing to see her body from front and from behind.
On March 13 La Dormeuse, 130 x 162 cm, is the last painting in this series. A synthesis of the images of March 8 and 12, it releases the woman from the useless accessories replaced by a simple area of blue sky. The landscape format allows the life size of this lying nude. The visual torsion of the body ensures the fullness of the desire of the artist who displays side by side the sex and the buttocks.
The Dormeuse was made in oil and charcoal, offering the spontaneity of a drawing. It keeps very visible the repentances of lines, as if the artist had actually observed the breathing of his muse in her sleep. If so, it was painted at Boisgeloup. This work of exceptional intimacy has been lovingly kept by Picasso until his death.
It is estimated £ 12M for sale by Phillips in London on March 8, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Marie-Thérèse attains her legal majority on July 13, 1930, thus putting an end to the torment of Tantalus of her passionate lover. Olga has not yet discovered this infidelity. Remaining cautious, Picasso buys the château of Boisgeloup in the same month to install away from Paris his mistress and his second studio. In 1931 he carves many busts where he captures the roundnesses of the head and face of Marie-Thérèse.
In 1932 the artist can no longer restrain his erotic impulses. The role of Marie-Thérèse is easy to perform : Pablo adores her when she sleeps. Le Rêve, famous for its innocent and sexual dual reading, is painted on January 24. This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas was sold for $ 48M including premium by Christie's on November 10, 1997.
In March Picasso realizes a series of sleeping nudes, from memory in Paris or from live in Boisgeloup. The Nu, Feuilles vertes et Buste painted on March 8, 162 x 130 cm, is emblematic of this series by its finish, with simple lines and pure colors that once again aim to compete with Matisse. It was sold for $ 106M including premium by Christie's on May 4, 2010.
On March 12 Le Miroir, 130 x 97 cm, introduces a new audacity, the reflection allowing to see her body from front and from behind.
On March 13 La Dormeuse, 130 x 162 cm, is the last painting in this series. A synthesis of the images of March 8 and 12, it releases the woman from the useless accessories replaced by a simple area of blue sky. The landscape format allows the life size of this lying nude. The visual torsion of the body ensures the fullness of the desire of the artist who displays side by side the sex and the buttocks.
The Dormeuse was made in oil and charcoal, offering the spontaneity of a drawing. It keeps very visible the repentances of lines, as if the artist had actually observed the breathing of his muse in her sleep. If so, it was painted at Boisgeloup. This work of exceptional intimacy has been lovingly kept by Picasso until his death.
It is estimated £ 12M for sale by Phillips in London on March 8, lot 10. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1932 Le Rêve by Picasso
1997 SOLD for $ 48M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
In his burning passion for Marie-Thérèse Walter, Picasso remained cautious. Olga still did not find an evidence of the adultery. Le Rêve, oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm painted on January 24, 1932, indeed marks the point of no return. Please read the page dedicated to this work in Wikipedia.
It is one of the very first portraits where the young blonde woman is recognizable. Picasso had chosen her for the voluptuous beauty of her curves. She sleeps peacefully in an armchair, her head bent over her right shoulder. It is however a dream. Picasso uses his signature vision in multiple perspectives but teratology is rarer. Yet here Marie-Thérèse has six fingers on each hand.
For the artist, this dream is also erotic, perhaps ending a long period of frustration when he did not want to be accused of abusing a minor. This painting offers in several places a double reading, quiet and pornographic. Such a mingling is rare : later Pablo will rather tend to associate with pornography a complacently autobiographical bestiality.
Without having significant financial means, Victor and Sally Ganz had an absolute eye. In 1941 Le Rêve was the very first piece in their collection which they were to limit to five artists : Picasso, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and Eva Hesse.
On November 10, 1997, Christie's sold the Ganz collection. The two top results were Le Rêve, sold for $ 48M including premium, and the ultimate version numbered O of Les Femmes d'Alger sold for $ 32M including premium. The Ganzs had spent about $ 2M on the acquisition of their entire collection.
These two paintings are arguably the two most important artworks by Picasso in private hands. Les Femmes d'Alger was sold for $ 180M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2015.
In 2001 Steve Wynn bought Le Rêve in private sale, with the aim of making it the emblem of one of his casinos in Las Vegas. He gave up this project in 2006 because of the anti-European xenophobia which was spreading in America at the time of the war against Iraq. He had a client for an announced amount of $ 139M. While preparing this negotiation, his elbow went through the canvas, leaving in Le Rêve a tear 20 cm long.
The painting was repaired and the client, Steven A. Cohen, did not give up. He bought Le Rêve in private sale from Steve Wynn in 2013 for a price announced to the press of $ 155M.
It is one of the very first portraits where the young blonde woman is recognizable. Picasso had chosen her for the voluptuous beauty of her curves. She sleeps peacefully in an armchair, her head bent over her right shoulder. It is however a dream. Picasso uses his signature vision in multiple perspectives but teratology is rarer. Yet here Marie-Thérèse has six fingers on each hand.
For the artist, this dream is also erotic, perhaps ending a long period of frustration when he did not want to be accused of abusing a minor. This painting offers in several places a double reading, quiet and pornographic. Such a mingling is rare : later Pablo will rather tend to associate with pornography a complacently autobiographical bestiality.
Without having significant financial means, Victor and Sally Ganz had an absolute eye. In 1941 Le Rêve was the very first piece in their collection which they were to limit to five artists : Picasso, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and Eva Hesse.
On November 10, 1997, Christie's sold the Ganz collection. The two top results were Le Rêve, sold for $ 48M including premium, and the ultimate version numbered O of Les Femmes d'Alger sold for $ 32M including premium. The Ganzs had spent about $ 2M on the acquisition of their entire collection.
These two paintings are arguably the two most important artworks by Picasso in private hands. Les Femmes d'Alger was sold for $ 180M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2015.
In 2001 Steve Wynn bought Le Rêve in private sale, with the aim of making it the emblem of one of his casinos in Las Vegas. He gave up this project in 2006 because of the anti-European xenophobia which was spreading in America at the time of the war against Iraq. He had a client for an announced amount of $ 139M. While preparing this negotiation, his elbow went through the canvas, leaving in Le Rêve a tear 20 cm long.
The painting was repaired and the client, Steven A. Cohen, did not give up. He bought Le Rêve in private sale from Steve Wynn in 2013 for a price announced to the press of $ 155M.
1932 Nu au Fauteuil Noir by Picasso
1999 SOLD for $ 45M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Picasso's erotic art reached its climax during the winter of 1932 in his Parisian studio in rue La Boëtie. His model is Marie-Thérèse whom he had not been able to exhibit previously because of her young age. The illegitimate couple did not however make an escape to Boisgeloup during this period.
This series includes about 25 oils on canvas, with the sleeping or reading woman as the main theme. In the first phase, Picasso plays with hiding sexual symbols in the image. Le Rêve is painted on January 24. Nudes make their appearance at the approach of spring in an accelerated rhythm : Nu couché avec feuilles vertes et buste on March 8, Nu au fauteuil noir on March 9, Le Miroir on March 12, Jeune femme au miroir on March 14. La Dormeuse, oil and charcoal on canvas, is inserted in that sequence on March 13.
On March 17, considering that this series was completed, Picasso invites Kahnweiler to his workshop. Two of the nude paintings are present but we do not know which ones. Kahnweiler is dazzled by the audacity of Picasso's new style, where eroticism is accentuated by the shortened curves of the body. He later wrote to Leiris that these erotic figures could have been painted by a satyr who had just killed a woman.
According to Picasso himself, the highlights of his creative quest were the nudes of March 8 and 9, both in the 162 x 130 cm format. The position of the woman is almost identical in the two pictures, with the head completely thrown back. Nu couché avec feuilles vertes et buste is the most complex composition, bringing together several symbols. This painting was sold for $ 106M including premium by Christie's on May 4, 2010.
Nu au fauteuil noir offers a dramatic contrast between the pink flesh and the black seat. The only other element is a green plant that highlights the symbol of fertility. This oil on canvas was sold for $ 45M including premium by Christie's on November 9, 1999. It is illustrated by Wikipedia on a dedicated page.
This series includes about 25 oils on canvas, with the sleeping or reading woman as the main theme. In the first phase, Picasso plays with hiding sexual symbols in the image. Le Rêve is painted on January 24. Nudes make their appearance at the approach of spring in an accelerated rhythm : Nu couché avec feuilles vertes et buste on March 8, Nu au fauteuil noir on March 9, Le Miroir on March 12, Jeune femme au miroir on March 14. La Dormeuse, oil and charcoal on canvas, is inserted in that sequence on March 13.
On March 17, considering that this series was completed, Picasso invites Kahnweiler to his workshop. Two of the nude paintings are present but we do not know which ones. Kahnweiler is dazzled by the audacity of Picasso's new style, where eroticism is accentuated by the shortened curves of the body. He later wrote to Leiris that these erotic figures could have been painted by a satyr who had just killed a woman.
According to Picasso himself, the highlights of his creative quest were the nudes of March 8 and 9, both in the 162 x 130 cm format. The position of the woman is almost identical in the two pictures, with the head completely thrown back. Nu couché avec feuilles vertes et buste is the most complex composition, bringing together several symbols. This painting was sold for $ 106M including premium by Christie's on May 4, 2010.
Nu au fauteuil noir offers a dramatic contrast between the pink flesh and the black seat. The only other element is a green plant that highlights the symbol of fertility. This oil on canvas was sold for $ 45M including premium by Christie's on November 9, 1999. It is illustrated by Wikipedia on a dedicated page.
1937 Marie-Thérèse and Dora
2018 SOLD for £ 50M including premium
In 1937 Picasso is deeply saddened by the Spanish war. He is no longer the matamore disguised as a Minotaur. The impromptu meeting of his two mistresses in his workshop during the preparation of Guernica also opens a major sentimental dilemma. He makes his choice : his fate attracts him to Dora but he will not break with Marie-Thérèse.
He tries by their portraits to compare the opposite temperaments of his two mistresses. Two paintings dated in the same day, December 4, 1937, displays them separately. The contours of the faces are identical, in his signature style defining altogether front side and profile. The eyes, nose, mouth and even the big heart-shaped tear that covers the entire cheek are similar.
Beyond such a similarity the differences are all the more significant, as for example between the white skin of Marie-Thérèse and the bright yellow of Dora. Maya's young mother is nicely dressed in a checkered dress and wears a beret. The new mistress has a circus hat and a fur collar.
Pablo has hidden his dual love in both individual portraits. The oval shadow that appears between Dora's face and her dark hair is Marie-Thérèse's cheek. On the dark background of Marie-Thérèse's portrait a black shadow is barely discernible. This one follows the right profile of the head in an angular line that evokes Dora.
This interpretation is not exaggerated. The symbolic use of shadow had already been practiced by Pablo as a self-portrait behind Olga in 1931 when he was still trying to hide his relationship with Marie-Thérèse but had already decided to part from his wife.
On January 12, 1938 Picasso gives a continuation to the double portrait of the previous month by amalgamating the features of Dora and Marie-Thérèse in a single figure. Buste de femme (femme à la résille) was sold for $ 67M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2015. These three artworks of 1937 and 1938 were highly important for Picasso seeking to control his own emotional crisis : he kept them until his death 35 years later.
On February 28 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 7 Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter), the oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm painted on December 4, 1937. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
He tries by their portraits to compare the opposite temperaments of his two mistresses. Two paintings dated in the same day, December 4, 1937, displays them separately. The contours of the faces are identical, in his signature style defining altogether front side and profile. The eyes, nose, mouth and even the big heart-shaped tear that covers the entire cheek are similar.
Beyond such a similarity the differences are all the more significant, as for example between the white skin of Marie-Thérèse and the bright yellow of Dora. Maya's young mother is nicely dressed in a checkered dress and wears a beret. The new mistress has a circus hat and a fur collar.
Pablo has hidden his dual love in both individual portraits. The oval shadow that appears between Dora's face and her dark hair is Marie-Thérèse's cheek. On the dark background of Marie-Thérèse's portrait a black shadow is barely discernible. This one follows the right profile of the head in an angular line that evokes Dora.
This interpretation is not exaggerated. The symbolic use of shadow had already been practiced by Pablo as a self-portrait behind Olga in 1931 when he was still trying to hide his relationship with Marie-Thérèse but had already decided to part from his wife.
On January 12, 1938 Picasso gives a continuation to the double portrait of the previous month by amalgamating the features of Dora and Marie-Thérèse in a single figure. Buste de femme (femme à la résille) was sold for $ 67M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2015. These three artworks of 1937 and 1938 were highly important for Picasso seeking to control his own emotional crisis : he kept them until his death 35 years later.
On February 28 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 7 Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter), the oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm painted on December 4, 1937. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1938 The Two Mistresses of Pablo
2015 SOLD for $ 67M including premium
After Guernica, Picasso accepts an evidence: he now has two mistresses. He loves them for opposite reasons and decides not to choose. The sweet Marie-Thérèse is the mother of Maya. Dora invites for a passionate relationship.
Of course, the two women can not get along. Pablo is amused. He executes parallel portraits and goes to mix their features in the same figure. Presented in the anonymity of the sitter, these portraits do not reveal their identity with certainty.
On May 11 in New York, Christie's sells at lot 15A Buste de femme (femme à la résille), oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted in Paris on January 12, 1938.
In front of a bright red background, the colors of the skin and the clothes are also strident. In her enthusiasm, Dora insinuated that when he changed his mistress Picasso changed also his style, his life, his friends and even his dog.
The exotic funny hat and the fishnet do not belong to Marie-Thérèse but Dora is not the only desire of the artist who is embarrassed by the colorist glory of his great rival Matisse. The eyes on two different levels are not only the reconstruction of perspective in the Cubist style, they also mark the duality of this figure whose face includes some lines from Marie-Thérèse.
This painting was important to Pablo who will never parted from it. The auction house did not publish an estimate.
Of course, the two women can not get along. Pablo is amused. He executes parallel portraits and goes to mix their features in the same figure. Presented in the anonymity of the sitter, these portraits do not reveal their identity with certainty.
On May 11 in New York, Christie's sells at lot 15A Buste de femme (femme à la résille), oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted in Paris on January 12, 1938.
In front of a bright red background, the colors of the skin and the clothes are also strident. In her enthusiasm, Dora insinuated that when he changed his mistress Picasso changed also his style, his life, his friends and even his dog.
The exotic funny hat and the fishnet do not belong to Marie-Thérèse but Dora is not the only desire of the artist who is embarrassed by the colorist glory of his great rival Matisse. The eyes on two different levels are not only the reconstruction of perspective in the Cubist style, they also mark the duality of this figure whose face includes some lines from Marie-Thérèse.
This painting was important to Pablo who will never parted from it. The auction house did not publish an estimate.
1938 Femme assise dans un jardin by Picasso
1999 SOLD for $ 49.5M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
In 1935 Picasso was obsessed with his illusion of incarnation in the Minotaur. The sweet Marie-Thérèse, who gives birth to Maya, cannot help him in this satisfaction. He meets Dora Maar at that time.
Everything opposes the blonde and the brunette. Dora is a photographer and an artist. She is exuberant in the colors of her hats, brooches and nails, and her lipstick is too intense. As early as 1936 Picasso paints her in the nude, handed over to the Minotaur.
In 1937 Dora participates in the preparation of Guernica by Pablo and becomes his mistress. La Femme qui pleure is Dora's incorporation into the drama of Spain. From 1938 Pablo develops a new iconography of his goddess by placing her on a large armchair that looks like a throne.
On November 10, 1999, Sotheby's sold for $ 49.5M including premium Femme assise dans un jardin, which is a portrait of Dora.
This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas is an explosion of bright colors. Pablo painted it in a single day, December 10, 1938. The garden is a naive drawing of stylized branches. The war is temporarily forgotten.
Femme assise dans un jardin is illustrated in 2006 in an article shared by Artnet, alongside Dora Maar au chat which had just been sold by Sotheby's for $ 95M including premium.
The resemblance is striking between these two works of same dimensions. The composition is similar. Dora Maar au chat, painted in 1941, is a war painting. The joyous freedom of the garden is replaced by a mere wall. This lockdown is compensated by a forced smile and the black cat, the only additional symbol that supersedes the garden, is an evil intrusion.
Everything opposes the blonde and the brunette. Dora is a photographer and an artist. She is exuberant in the colors of her hats, brooches and nails, and her lipstick is too intense. As early as 1936 Picasso paints her in the nude, handed over to the Minotaur.
In 1937 Dora participates in the preparation of Guernica by Pablo and becomes his mistress. La Femme qui pleure is Dora's incorporation into the drama of Spain. From 1938 Pablo develops a new iconography of his goddess by placing her on a large armchair that looks like a throne.
On November 10, 1999, Sotheby's sold for $ 49.5M including premium Femme assise dans un jardin, which is a portrait of Dora.
This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas is an explosion of bright colors. Pablo painted it in a single day, December 10, 1938. The garden is a naive drawing of stylized branches. The war is temporarily forgotten.
Femme assise dans un jardin is illustrated in 2006 in an article shared by Artnet, alongside Dora Maar au chat which had just been sold by Sotheby's for $ 95M including premium.
The resemblance is striking between these two works of same dimensions. The composition is similar. Dora Maar au chat, painted in 1941, is a war painting. The joyous freedom of the garden is replaced by a mere wall. This lockdown is compensated by a forced smile and the black cat, the only additional symbol that supersedes the garden, is an evil intrusion.
1938 The Fury of the Birds
2017 SOLD for £ 36M including premium
After the First World War, German artists like Max Beckmann, Max Ernst, George Grosz and Otto Dix brought social criticism to the level of a major art far beyond caricature. Of course the Nazi regime does not agree. Beckmann is one of the targets of Hitler's furious attacks on degenerate art.
Beckmann precipitately left Germany in 1937 and settled in Amsterdam. Like Miro at the same time in Spain, he could not manage to stay away from politics. He immediately conceived a great composition, first entitled Der Land des Wahnsinningen (the country of the insane) which would express his horror of the collectivisms.
Completed at the end of the summer of 1938, Hölle der Vögel (hell of birds) is the achievement of that project. This oil on canvas 120 x 160 cm is for sale by Christie's in London on June 27, lot 11. Three days before the press release of May 8, Financial Time announced an estimate of £ 30M.
This scene mixes the medieval and the modern to better express the permanent threat of abject persecution. Tortures are inflicted by hooded birds. In a claustrophobic atmosphere with black lines and garish colors, the victim chained on an Inquisition bed is a light spot. A bird plows his back to the blood with a large knife.
This lugubrious ceremony is presided by a harpy standing out of her broken egg with a monstrous breast. The crowd of secondary characters is made up of screaming nudes who perform the Hitler Grüss, removing any possible doubt about the interpretation of this allegory in the modern world.
The narrative abundance in that work is inspired by medieval imagery. The choice of the bird as a symbol of blind fury reminds the man-swallowing bird in Bosch's Hell.
The political violence in Hölle der Vögel may be compared to Picasso's Guernica, also conceived in 1937. Beckmann's painting, cautiously preserved in a private apartment in Paris until the end of the Second World War, would have deserved a similar notoriety.
Please watch both videos shared by Christie's, one of thempositioning the artwork within Beckmann's career and the other one in which the auction house chose to accompany it by the reading of a similarly inspired poem by W. H. Auden.
Beckmann precipitately left Germany in 1937 and settled in Amsterdam. Like Miro at the same time in Spain, he could not manage to stay away from politics. He immediately conceived a great composition, first entitled Der Land des Wahnsinningen (the country of the insane) which would express his horror of the collectivisms.
Completed at the end of the summer of 1938, Hölle der Vögel (hell of birds) is the achievement of that project. This oil on canvas 120 x 160 cm is for sale by Christie's in London on June 27, lot 11. Three days before the press release of May 8, Financial Time announced an estimate of £ 30M.
This scene mixes the medieval and the modern to better express the permanent threat of abject persecution. Tortures are inflicted by hooded birds. In a claustrophobic atmosphere with black lines and garish colors, the victim chained on an Inquisition bed is a light spot. A bird plows his back to the blood with a large knife.
This lugubrious ceremony is presided by a harpy standing out of her broken egg with a monstrous breast. The crowd of secondary characters is made up of screaming nudes who perform the Hitler Grüss, removing any possible doubt about the interpretation of this allegory in the modern world.
The narrative abundance in that work is inspired by medieval imagery. The choice of the bird as a symbol of blind fury reminds the man-swallowing bird in Bosch's Hell.
The political violence in Hölle der Vögel may be compared to Picasso's Guernica, also conceived in 1937. Beckmann's painting, cautiously preserved in a private apartment in Paris until the end of the Second World War, would have deserved a similar notoriety.
Please watch both videos shared by Christie's, one of thempositioning the artwork within Beckmann's career and the other one in which the auction house chose to accompany it by the reading of a similarly inspired poem by W. H. Auden.
1939 The Smiling Woman
2017 SOLD for $ 45M including premium
While Dora Maar was doing the photographic survey of his creation of Guernica, Picasso observed her feminine hypersensitivity and conceptualized his new muse as a prophetess of the political catastrophes.
This artist's vision was incomplete and even unfair for this activist woman who loved surrealism and eccentric attires. It certainly did not help to preserve her fragile mental balance. They will terminate their affair in 1943.
Another catastrophe occured. In September 1939 Picasso in fear of the aerial attacks left Paris and established his small circle at Royan in two different places so that his two rival mistresses shall not meet.
In the cyclothymia of this anxious artist the date of 25 October 1939 was a short period of lull. Pablo was celebrating his birthday in Royan with Dora. He painted Femme assise, robe bleue.
This oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm was sold for £ 18M including premium by Christie's on June 21, 2011 over a lower estimate of £ 4M. The appeal to the international market from Dora's portraits is growing. It is now estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 12 A.
On that day Pablo's mistress is no longer an allegory but a young woman loved by him. The colors are bright and cheerful and the hat is exuberant. The face in multiple perspectives according to the taste of the artist at that time reinforces the expression of a wide and friendly smile close to laughter.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
This artist's vision was incomplete and even unfair for this activist woman who loved surrealism and eccentric attires. It certainly did not help to preserve her fragile mental balance. They will terminate their affair in 1943.
Another catastrophe occured. In September 1939 Picasso in fear of the aerial attacks left Paris and established his small circle at Royan in two different places so that his two rival mistresses shall not meet.
In the cyclothymia of this anxious artist the date of 25 October 1939 was a short period of lull. Pablo was celebrating his birthday in Royan with Dora. He painted Femme assise, robe bleue.
This oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm was sold for £ 18M including premium by Christie's on June 21, 2011 over a lower estimate of £ 4M. The appeal to the international market from Dora's portraits is growing. It is now estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 12 A.
On that day Pablo's mistress is no longer an allegory but a young woman loved by him. The colors are bright and cheerful and the hat is exuberant. The face in multiple perspectives according to the taste of the artist at that time reinforces the expression of a wide and friendly smile close to laughter.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
