Pablo PICASSO (1881–1973)
Femme au Fauteuil
1947
Charcoal and colored crayon on paper
253/8 by 191/2 in. / 64.4 by 49.5 cm
(With frame: 347/8 x 283/8 x 13/8 in. / 88 x 72 x 3,5 cm.)
Signed lower right in charcoal by the artist with the monogram “PP”.
• Certificate by Mr. Claude Ruiz-Picasso.
• Provenance: – Estate of the artist – Marina Picasso (the artist’s granddaughter) – Sotheby’s, New York, May 18, 2017, lot 81.
• Exhibitions: Ulm, Ulmer Museum, Pablo Picasso in der Verwandlung, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso, 9 Oct- 4 Dec. 1994, illustrated p. 74 no. 4 in the catalogue.
• Literature: Pablo Picasso in der Verwandlung, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso, catalogue of the Ulmer Museum, 1994, ill. p. 74 No. 4.
In the late 1940s, Picasso turns away from the somber paintings of World War II and develops a brighter style inspired by his new lover, the young painter Françoise Gilot. Over the years, he portrays his radiant muse in an increasing stylized manner, depicting her as “La Femme-Fleur” (Flower-Woman) with simple geometric shapes and energetic sweeping lines.
This drawing marks the starting point of Picasso’s renowned “Femme au Fauteuil” (Woman in an Armchair) lithograph series—a sequence of 28 portraits of his partner and muse, Françoise Gilot, created in 1948–1949 and widely regarded as his graphic masterpiece in the medium of lithography: https://picassofemmefauteuil.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/hello-world/
