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Lot Essay
Executed in 1962, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe marks the culmination of a series of works that Picasso had based on the 1863 masterpiece of the same name by Edouard Manet, which currently resides in the Musée d'Orsay. The present lot's status as one of the last of the group is evident from the fact that it was created on a frontispiece to a book that illustrated some of Picasso's works on this theme, which had occupied him, on and off, since 1959. The present work was a gift from Picasso to his friend David Douglas Duncan, a photographer who published several books on Picasso and who, over many years, managed to capture his life and character through the lens, resulting in some of the most recognized images of the painter.
Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe served as the merest prompt and prelude for Picasso, who freely adapted the original theme and composition, in some versions adding a figure here, removing one there. In a sense, Manet's painting provided Picasso with a perfect pretext, as it chimed well with many of the themes that were closest to his heart. Women, indulgence, a world of sensuality... These were themes that had occupied Picasso as early as the 19th century, and the playful attitude to sex shown in Le déjeuner sur l'herbe recalls many of the erotic drawings that he had executed as a young man, especially after his arrival in Paris. The subject was all the more suited to Picasso as visually it echoed one of his own favorite motifs, the artist and model in the studio.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Picasso revisited a series of works by older masters, such as Les femmes d'Algers by Eugène Delacroix and Las Meniñas by Velázquez. Picasso's desire to interpret these older paintings shows both his intense pride and his reverence for these artists. In the present drawing, Picasso uses vigorous lines of children's crayon to mimic the carefully-executed oil of Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe, an act that is at once irreverent, playful and invigorating.
This new life is as evident in the changes that Picasso has made as it is in the characteristics that he has kept. In this incarnation of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, Picasso managed to create a composition that allows for all four figures from the original Manet painting to remain within the picture despite its vertical format. The fruit from the picnic in the picture by Manet is evident in a splash of vibrant color at the bottom left of the Picasso work. Even the beards of the men, as well as the stick and the checked trousers of the figure on the right, make an appearance, while the flesh-baring women, despite being moved relative to the original composition, have also--perhaps unsurprisingly, considering Picasso's tastes and interests--been retained. Indeed, the one in the distance, who in the original was shown washing herself while wearing some scant undergarments, has been denuded by Picasso. All of their actions and gestures have been liberally reinterpreted by Picasso, not least in the pipe that has sneaked its way as though from a Dutch genre painting, which adds to the absorbing and enchanting sense of contemplative leisure of the scene.
Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe served as the merest prompt and prelude for Picasso, who freely adapted the original theme and composition, in some versions adding a figure here, removing one there. In a sense, Manet's painting provided Picasso with a perfect pretext, as it chimed well with many of the themes that were closest to his heart. Women, indulgence, a world of sensuality... These were themes that had occupied Picasso as early as the 19th century, and the playful attitude to sex shown in Le déjeuner sur l'herbe recalls many of the erotic drawings that he had executed as a young man, especially after his arrival in Paris. The subject was all the more suited to Picasso as visually it echoed one of his own favorite motifs, the artist and model in the studio.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Picasso revisited a series of works by older masters, such as Les femmes d'Algers by Eugène Delacroix and Las Meniñas by Velázquez. Picasso's desire to interpret these older paintings shows both his intense pride and his reverence for these artists. In the present drawing, Picasso uses vigorous lines of children's crayon to mimic the carefully-executed oil of Manet's Déjeuner sur l'herbe, an act that is at once irreverent, playful and invigorating.
This new life is as evident in the changes that Picasso has made as it is in the characteristics that he has kept. In this incarnation of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, Picasso managed to create a composition that allows for all four figures from the original Manet painting to remain within the picture despite its vertical format. The fruit from the picnic in the picture by Manet is evident in a splash of vibrant color at the bottom left of the Picasso work. Even the beards of the men, as well as the stick and the checked trousers of the figure on the right, make an appearance, while the flesh-baring women, despite being moved relative to the original composition, have also--perhaps unsurprisingly, considering Picasso's tastes and interests--been retained. Indeed, the one in the distance, who in the original was shown washing herself while wearing some scant undergarments, has been denuded by Picasso. All of their actions and gestures have been liberally reinterpreted by Picasso, not least in the pipe that has sneaked its way as though from a Dutch genre painting, which adds to the absorbing and enchanting sense of contemplative leisure of the scene.