Galerie Simon, Paris

Vladimir Goldschmann, New York

Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York

Justin K. Thannhauser, New York

Sale: Sotheby's, London, December 6, 1🌳978, lot 271

Maxwell Davidson Gall𒉰ery, New York (acquired at the above sale)

Acquir🤡ed from the above by the present owner in May 1980

Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, International Exhibition of Paintings, 1939

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 9, Paris, 1958, no. 233, illust👍rated pl. 112

The Picasso Project, ed., Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Sculpture.  Spanish Civil War, 1937-1939, San Francisco, 1997, no. 38-178, illustrated p. 194 (titled Nature morte au compotier)

Original canvas. Under ultra-violet light, there are a few tiny specks of retouching in the pink pigment to the right and a few pinhead spots in the yellow base of the jug. Overall, this work is in excellent 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.
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's still lifes from the 1930s mark the artist's innovative interpretation of Surrealist themes.  Elements that are common to the genre of still life -- the table set with a glass, bowl of fruit and pitcher -- were undoubtedly reanalyzed for their Freudian connotations by the intellectuals within Picasso's circle, such as Jacques Lacan and Georges Bataille.   While Picasso made no secret to the sexuality at the heart of even the most platonic of his compositions, he objected to providing frank interpretations to his pictures.  "Sure, they're symbols, " he  said of the elements in another painting from around the same time, "But it isn't up to the painter to create the symbols; otherwise, it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words instead of painting them....  It's up to the public to see what it want to see" (quoted in D. Ashton, Picasso on Art, A Selection of Views, New York, 1980, p. 155).

Nature morte --  Fruits, compotier, carafe sur une table was first handled by Picasso's dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler through his gallery, which was known during the interwar years as Galerie Simon.  The picture was then acquired by the French music conductor Vladimir Goldschmann, who had made a name for himself in the 1920s conducting productions of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets russes and presumably met Picasso around that time.  He eventually relocated to the United States, where he served as the music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra between 1𓆉931 and 1958.