Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Fuji Gallery, Japan
C & M Arts, New York (acquired by 1999)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in May 2001

New York, C & M Arts, Figurative Art from the 20th Century, 1999

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Œuvres de 1970, Paris, 1977, vol. XXXII, no. 102, illustrated pl. 42
The Picasso Project, Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. The Final Years, San Francisco, 2004, no. 70-133, illus⛦trate🌄d p. 43

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount at the top two corners, floating in the mount. The upper edge is perforated. The lower two corners have been supported. There are tape and glue remnants to the edges on the reverse of the sheet, due to previous mounting. Apart from minor nailhead-sized spots of paper skinning in the lower left and right corners and towards the centre of the lower edge, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although the yellows and browns are less red in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In November 1971, the photographer Brassaï visited Picasso at his home at Mougins, Notre Dame de Vie.  It was Picasso's 90^th birthday, and Brassaï, who had met Picasso in 1932 and photographed much of his sculpture during the 1930s and 40s, wrote, 'Such a flowering of creative energy would be astonishing enough in a man who has already lived longer than many of the great artists of history, but in Picasso's case there is an even more astonishing factor: Instead of bringing with it a slackening of his physical ardour, his great age seems only to stir up the demons within and heighten the intensity of his erotic imaginings' (quoted in the introduction by John Richardson & Marilyn McCully in Sotheby's sale of Pablo Picasso: 26 Drawings from the Berggruen Sketchbook, London, 2005, p. 7).

The present work showcases Picasso's acute sense of eroticism though the masterful combination of figural line drawing and scintillating colouration. Gert Schiff writes about the works from the end of Picasso's career, 'To the last, he poured all his impassioned humanity into his art. Thus, his last works teach us something that cannot be deduced from the more detached works of other giants in their old age. By pushing the limits of our self-awareness a little further, Picasso undermines our moral complacency in the name of his own honest and fearless humanism. Quite often, he does so with disarming naïveté and exquisite humor. For all of these reasons, his last period has a special place within his development.  It is not a 'swan song' but the apotheosis of his career' (Picasso, The Last Years, 1963-1973 (exhib🍎ition🧸 catalogue) Gray Art Gallery & Study Center, New York University, New York, pp. 11-12).

FIG. 1, Picasso at Villa la Californie, Cannes, May 1956 (photograph by Lee Miller)