Pablo admires Rembrandt and Velazquez as well as the vitality with which the men of their time were pictured. He copies several times in his own style one of his favorite images, the self-portrait engraved in 1636 of Rembrandt with his wife Saskia.
On February 27 in London, Christie's sells Mousquetaire et nu assis, oil and industrial paint on canvas 130 x 97 cm executed in April 1967, lot 18 estimated £ 12M. This artwork had been sold for £ 6.7M including premium on June 18, 2007 in the same auction room. Ten years ago the late works of Picasso were less appreciated.
On the right side the domineering man in a musketeer's attire conforms to the 30-year-old Rembrandt with no resemblance to Picasso. He does not look at his wife.
Saskia was 24 years old in 1636. In a submissive attitude, she was dressed like the wives of her time. Picasso gives her place to his 41-year-old Jacqueline. Pablo no longer accepts censorship against his creative freedom : Jacqueline is outrageously nude with her sex moved to the thigh for being better exhibited in the foreground of the image. Her loving gaze attests that she is offered to the fantasies of her old husband.
Throughout that year Picasso also develops the portraiture of singled musketeers as a symbol of virility while he remains aware of the illusion of his own boasting.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
SOLD for £ 13.7M including premium
Ageing Picasso’s painting of lover and virile musketeer could make £18m at Christie's https://t.co/9680FRoQra @ChristiesInc pic.twitter.com/FQeLd3qXDM
— The Art Newspaper (@TheArtNewspaper) February 1, 2018