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Lot Essay
Claude Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Mére et enfant is part of a series of India ink drawings executed by Picasso in 1951 on the subject of a mother holding her child (cf. Zervos 15.170-172). The numbering of the drawings suggest that there are more in the series and indicates the artist's preoccupation with this motif, which has obvious art historical precedents in the depiction of the Madonna and Child.
In the summer of 1951 Picasso visited Rome for the fourth meeting of the Committee for World Peace, where he visited the Sistine Chapel before travelling to Florence, Arezzo and Assisi to see works by Piero della Francesca and Giotto. Indeed Mére et enfant calls to mind these artists' depictions of the Madonna and Child.
Closer to home, Picasso's youngest daughter, Paloma, had been born in 1949 to his partner, Francoise Gilot. The profile, eyebrows and splendid hair of the mother seem to be those of Francoise, whilst the chubby round face, with dark hooded eyes framed by the pageboy haircut, appears to be that of Paloma.
Mére et enfant is part of a series of India ink drawings executed by Picasso in 1951 on the subject of a mother holding her child (cf. Zervos 15.170-172). The numbering of the drawings suggest that there are more in the series and indicates the artist's preoccupation with this motif, which has obvious art historical precedents in the depiction of the Madonna and Child.
In the summer of 1951 Picasso visited Rome for the fourth meeting of the Committee for World Peace, where he visited the Sistine Chapel before travelling to Florence, Arezzo and Assisi to see works by Piero della Francesca and Giotto. Indeed Mére et enfant calls to mind these artists' depictions of the Madonna and Child.
Closer to home, Picasso's youngest daughter, Paloma, had been born in 1949 to his partner, Francoise Gilot. The profile, eyebrows and splendid hair of the mother seem to be those of Francoise, whilst the chubby round face, with dark hooded eyes framed by the pageboy haircut, appears to be that of Paloma.