Paul Guillaume, Paris
Sale: Parke-Bernet, New York, January 26, 1944, no. 92
Mr. and Mrs. J. Speiser, Philadelphia (acquired at the above sale)
O'Hana Gallery, London
Sale: Parke-Bernet, New York, April 14, 1965, no. 37
Greta Garbo, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Saidenberg Gallery, New York
Sale: Parke-Bernet, New York, March 10, 1971, no. 64
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, November 5, 2004, lot 222
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

London, O'Hana Gallery, Paintings and Sculpture of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 1968, no. 33

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1895 à 1906, 1957, vol. I, p. 230, illustrated pl. 102
Denys Sutton, Picasso, Peintures, Epoques Bleu et Rose, 1955, illustrated no. 18
Pierre Daix and Georges Boudaille, Picasso 1900-1906, Catalogue Raisonné de L'Oeuvre Peint, 1966, no. IX.27, illustrated p. 227

In the fall of 1900 the eighteen-year-old Pablo Picasso received the paramount honor of representing his country in the Spanish Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.  Traveling with his close companion, Carlos Casagemas, the two shared a studio apartment in Montmartre at 49, rue Gabrielle.  It was early winter, when Picasso felt most invigorated by the fresh Parisian milieu, “During the stay in Paris of just over two months, Picasso’s work seems to have undergone an evolution that took it from light to shade, from vivid polychromy to nocturnal hues, from the open to open spaces…” (Josep Palau i Fabre, Picasso, the Early Years, 1881-1907, New York, 1981, p. 207)

Picasso and Casagemas returned to Spain in December of 1900 to spend the holidays with Picasso’s family.  Aft𓄧er the New Year had passed, Picasso chose to remain in Barcelona while Casamegas returned to Paris.  Casagemas’ failed courtship to Germaine Gargallo lead him to commit suicide at the Café de L’Hippodrome on February 17, 1901.

Casagemas' death had a profound impact on Picasso's oeuvre; images of the deceased and his funeral began to populate Picasso's canvases, where the artist adopted a dark-hu♋ed palette.  For Picasso, this was the beginning of his so-called 'Blue Period.' “I began to paint in blue, when I realized Casagemas had died.” (Walther, 1993, p. 15) The 'Blue Period' is a record of Picasso's grievance over the death of his friend, and the state of society in which he lived.  From 1902 to 1903, Picasso focused on the destitute life of members of the u🤪nderclass dressed in rags, often in a feeling of absolute misery and despair.

La vieille, painted circa 1903, captures the essence of Picasso's fascination with the impoverished life of the socioeconomic underclass that wandered the streets of Barcelona.  The small canvas depicts a full-length figure of a forlorn elderly woman. Her hands are clasped below her bust, her body is hidden beneath her tattered cloak whose vertical draping hangs over her feet, and enables her to float slightly center left of the canvas, like a ghost in the darkness.  The agitated brush strokes contrast the dark and light shades of blue which intensify the hopelessness of the woman and reflect the equal despondency Picasso felt for society.  La vieille encapsulates Picasso's view of sadness inherent in his work, “If we demand sincerity of an artist, we must remember that sincerity is not to be found outside the realm of grief” (Patrick O'Brian, Picasso: Pablo Ruiz Picasso : a biography, 1994, p. 105).