Mrs Fulton Cutting, New Jersey (probably acquired circa 1950; sale: Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 3rd May 1973, lot 30)
Henry Ford II, New York (purchased at the above sale; sale: Sotheby's, New York, 12th November 1990, lot 31)
Private Collection, Paris (purchased at the above sale)
Sale: Christie's, London, 1st December 1992, lot 218
Stanley J. Seeger, New York (purchased at the above sale; sale: Sotheby's, New York, The Eye of a Collector: Works from the Collection of Stanley J. Seeger, 8th May 2001, lot 59)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, œuvres de 1939 et 1940, Paris, 1959, vol. X, no. 516, illustrated pl. 151
Marilyn McCully, Picasso: A Private Collection, London, 1993, illustrated p. 171
The Picasso Project, Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture. Europe at War, 1939-1940, San Francisco, 1998, no. 40-370, illustrated p. 188

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount at three points along the upper edge, floating in the mount. There are artist's pinholes to all four corners. There is a very small supported paper loss to the upper left edge and a tiny paper loss to the lower left corner. Apart from some scattered spots of light foxing to the sheet, and some light time staining, mainly to the edges, this work is in good condition.
"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."

Two days before Britain and France declared war on Germany in September 1939, Picasso moved his entourage to Royan; Marie-Thérèse Walter and their daughter Maya were insta💯lled in separate quarters, while Picasso's new mistress Dora Maar lived with the artist. Over the next year, Picasso travelled between Royan and Paris; he spent most of the🅠 month of February and eight weeks in March-May in Paris, where an exhibition of his work was held at Yvonne Zervos' gallery.

Most of the imagery of this early wartime period is concentrated on the female nude and skull-like studies of heads, inspired by the presence of Dora Maar and imbued with Picasso's expressive response to the war. However, on 2 May 1940, the artist reverted to a subject that was associated with Marie-Thérèse: a couple making love. The present work is one of three classicizing drawings he made on the same day, all on paper of similar size and all employing Indian ink: La nymphe et le satyre, where the artist drew a mirror on the wall reflecting the rear view of the nude (Zervos, vol. X, no. 515); Dessin à l'encre de chine (Zervos, vol. X, no. 566); and the present work, Homme accroupi et femme nue, where the background shows either a window or curtains. Here the male figure is 🥀bearded and the nude is sleeping, another reference to Marie-Thérèse, who during the 1930s was often depicted as sleeping by Picasso.