Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York
Private Collection, New York (sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 13, 1997, lot 399)
Stanley J. Seeger, London (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 8, 2001, lot 38)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Christian Zervos, Dessins de Picasso, Paris, 1949, no. 177
Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Oeuvres de 1946 à 1953, vol. 15, Paris, 1965, no. 3, illustrated pl. 2
The Picasso Project, Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture, Liberation and Post-War Years, 1944-1949, San Francisco, 2000, no. 46-118, ꦆillustrated p. 98

The sheet has light staining throughout with the exception of the edges which had covered by a previous mat and a three inch wide section which runs across the width of the upper portion of the work (it starts approx five inches down fro the top edge) At the top corners and at the lower right corner are transfer stains probably also from a previous mat. There is minor foxing throughout. In addition there are numerous small handling creases throughout and impressions from current hinges along the edges. The verso of the piece could not be examined as the piece was hinged at all edges. Prepared by Paper Conservation Studio, Inc. 1841 Broadway, Room 604 New York, NY 10023 phone 212-315-2828 fax 212--315-2622 alan@paperconservationstudio.com
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Picasso returned to the Mediterranean after the war with Françoise Gilot. The present work was executed in August 1946, probably in Antibes, but the event that his drawing explored had taken place in Menerbes, where they had stayed for three weeks in Dora Maar's house before moving to the coast. Gilot recalled that, "There were many large owls in that region and as soon as it grew dark they would come out in search of unwary rabbits to carry off in their claws. Since most of the local people were well aware of this, they kept their rabbits safely shut up at night. But there were always a number of emaciated cats... (who) went prowling at night in search of lizards and the owls prowled to pick off the cats. After dinner at the Café de l'Union... we had a half-mile walk to get home. And on that road, almost invariably, we would see two or three fights between owls and cats. The stars were very bright and the air clear, so although the night was dark there was almost a transparency to the darkness... Suddenly one of the owls would swoop out of the dark... and he would make for a cat skulking along the roadside ahead of us. Sometimes he would manage to pick the cat up in his claws and carry it off to eat somewhere else. But if the cat was a big one, the battle would last a fairly long time. Pablo would stand there, fascinated, as long as the fight lasted. He made at least five or six drawings of those fights" (Françoise Gilot & Carlton Lake, Life with Picasso, New York, 1964, p. 128).

This is one of at least two drawings of this subject done on the same size paper on the same day. While delicacy of line and wash characterize the present work, the other is bolder and shows the effects of overlays and rubbing effects achieved with pencil. In the present work some of the lines are reinforced, but only to accentuate their linearity. The colors of the wash - pale brown, green and bluish ton꧅es - are equally delicate, and close examination reveals that even among the same tones employed there are variations: the green face, for example, differs ꧃from the green of the wings. While the other drawing focuses on the attack and the struggle - flapping wings, claws extended and screaming mouths - the present work is cooler and more schematic. In some ways, it recalls his curious drawings of the early thirties of schematized figures making love, and even harks back to the restraint of his Cubist collages and drawings of 1912.

 

Fig. 1 Picasso with his adopted owl, circa 1948