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Lot Essay
"Picasso made a single being out of two, expressing the carnal fusion brought forth by the act of kissing. Never had erotic power been suggested with such realism. He bared sexuality in an explicit way in L’Etreinte: 'Art is never chaste,' the painter said"
- Marie-Laure Bernadac (The Ultimate Picasso, New York, 2000, p. 458).
Picasso drew the present work on 9 September 1968, a day of frenzied creative output focusing on his continued preoccupation with the theme of the lovers. He executed a group of works entitled L’Etreinte, depicting two lovers in varying stages of sexual activity ranging from kissing to making love. The present work is one of the most complete and accomplished of these drawings, an effect that is heightened by the mock frame that Picasso himself has added, surrounding the composition with two lines forming approximate rectangles. In addition, the man's beard and even the flecks that Picasso has used to show his pubic hair denote an attention that did not extend to most of the other works in the group; the sense of completeness of the composition is augmented by the hatching to the right, which gives the impression of the bunched material, perhaps of a bed—a suggestion backed up by the square of a putative pillow behind the woman's head.
Picasso’s inspiration derives not solely from his own world of fantasy, but refers to a long legacy of depicting the flesh in a manner no different to his appropriation of the old masters in other works, approaching themes from Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Le Bain turc and Raphael and La Fornarina, Edouard Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l'herbe and Nicolas Poussin’s L'Enlèvement des sabines, all of which he explored within his later career. While Picasso had always synthesized numerous sources in his work, compositions such as L'Etreinte are also defined by their expression of the artist’s lived experiences in the moment of their creation. Residing in almost complete seclusion with Jacqueline Roque at Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins, the artist was able to immerse himself entirely in his work, painting without disturbance for hours each day. The result was an exuberant burst of creativity that belied the artist’s age, as he produced an astounding body of work that valiantly proclaimed his undiminished powers of creation. Picasso’s entire oeuvre is punctuated by his keen interest in the sexuality of the nude form, frequently intertwined with his personal response to different muses throughout his life. From his sensual neoclassical works of the thirties through the Peintre et modèle series of the early sixties, Picasso had long been exploring the theme of the embrace, every new muse bringing a renewed creative energy to this recurring preoccupation across all media.
In 1968, he created the suite entitled 347, named for the prodigious number of images that Picasso had executed within a matter of months. Looking at 347, the viewer becomes aware of a narrative arc that leads to the related drawings of L'Etreinte that Picasso created on 9 September. In some of the previous images, the man was shown as a painter, often holding a palette in his hands while in the process of making love to the woman. In a number of these pictures, a figure identified as the Pope was also shown incongruously watching the scene unfurl. Picasso appears to have been vicariously identifying with the male protagonists in these romantic images, projecting himself into the world of sex and sensuality that doubtless in part recalled his own youthful adventures. Thus L'Etreinte reflects not only the present, as Picasso was settled with his wife Jacqueline Roque, but also his past, as he roamed through his own reminiscences, casting an eye back upon his life and past works. After all, Picasso's works were but an extension of the artist himself: as he declared, “I paint the same way some people write their autobiography” (quoted in J. Richardson, Late Picasso: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, 1953-1972, exh. cat., London, 1988, p. 28).
Picasso had long held a fascination with Katsushika Hokusai’s erotic prints, holding examples in his own private collection. L’Etreinte employs sinuous confident line in a masterfully intertwined composition that recalls Hokusai’s treatment of the erotic subject elaborated in series, including Brocades from the East (Azuma nishiki) from 1812 and The Adonis Plant (Fukujusô) published between 1815 and 1817, probably his most famous series of Shunga prints. Picasso’s rendition of the erotic act in here enacts the intensity of Hokusai’s work, of an interaction between partners with similarities of style to his treatment of line and form on paper. Depicting different scenes of the erotic encounter, he presents both an investigation of a range historical influences and techniques, and a meditation on desire; playful and risqué.
When the artist’s exhibition of his recent paintings and drawings debuted at the Palais des Papes in Avignon in May 1970, many of the visitors were shocked to see his new works. Marie-Laure Bernadac wrote, “Picasso made a single being out of two, expressing the carnal fusion brought forth by the act of kissing. Never had erotic power been suggested with such realism. He bared sexuality in an explicit way in L’Etreinte: ‘Art is never chaste,’ the painter said” (The Ultimate Picasso, New York, 2000, p. 458). L’Etreinte represents a fantasy and a manifestation of desire, not only for the pleasures of the flesh but for the vitality of youth and the pursuance of his art. It shows his enduring interest in the masters of the past whilst remaining indefatigably fresh and vibrant in its treatment of the subject, an eternal and core metaphor in Picasso's visual language.
- Marie-Laure Bernadac (The Ultimate Picasso, New York, 2000, p. 458).
Picasso drew the present work on 9 September 1968, a day of frenzied creative output focusing on his continued preoccupation with the theme of the lovers. He executed a group of works entitled L’Etreinte, depicting two lovers in varying stages of sexual activity ranging from kissing to making love. The present work is one of the most complete and accomplished of these drawings, an effect that is heightened by the mock frame that Picasso himself has added, surrounding the composition with two lines forming approximate rectangles. In addition, the man's beard and even the flecks that Picasso has used to show his pubic hair denote an attention that did not extend to most of the other works in the group; the sense of completeness of the composition is augmented by the hatching to the right, which gives the impression of the bunched material, perhaps of a bed—a suggestion backed up by the square of a putative pillow behind the woman's head.
Picasso’s inspiration derives not solely from his own world of fantasy, but refers to a long legacy of depicting the flesh in a manner no different to his appropriation of the old masters in other works, approaching themes from Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Le Bain turc and Raphael and La Fornarina, Edouard Manet’s Le déjeuner sur l'herbe and Nicolas Poussin’s L'Enlèvement des sabines, all of which he explored within his later career. While Picasso had always synthesized numerous sources in his work, compositions such as L'Etreinte are also defined by their expression of the artist’s lived experiences in the moment of their creation. Residing in almost complete seclusion with Jacqueline Roque at Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins, the artist was able to immerse himself entirely in his work, painting without disturbance for hours each day. The result was an exuberant burst of creativity that belied the artist’s age, as he produced an astounding body of work that valiantly proclaimed his undiminished powers of creation. Picasso’s entire oeuvre is punctuated by his keen interest in the sexuality of the nude form, frequently intertwined with his personal response to different muses throughout his life. From his sensual neoclassical works of the thirties through the Peintre et modèle series of the early sixties, Picasso had long been exploring the theme of the embrace, every new muse bringing a renewed creative energy to this recurring preoccupation across all media.
In 1968, he created the suite entitled 347, named for the prodigious number of images that Picasso had executed within a matter of months. Looking at 347, the viewer becomes aware of a narrative arc that leads to the related drawings of L'Etreinte that Picasso created on 9 September. In some of the previous images, the man was shown as a painter, often holding a palette in his hands while in the process of making love to the woman. In a number of these pictures, a figure identified as the Pope was also shown incongruously watching the scene unfurl. Picasso appears to have been vicariously identifying with the male protagonists in these romantic images, projecting himself into the world of sex and sensuality that doubtless in part recalled his own youthful adventures. Thus L'Etreinte reflects not only the present, as Picasso was settled with his wife Jacqueline Roque, but also his past, as he roamed through his own reminiscences, casting an eye back upon his life and past works. After all, Picasso's works were but an extension of the artist himself: as he declared, “I paint the same way some people write their autobiography” (quoted in J. Richardson, Late Picasso: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, 1953-1972, exh. cat., London, 1988, p. 28).
Picasso had long held a fascination with Katsushika Hokusai’s erotic prints, holding examples in his own private collection. L’Etreinte employs sinuous confident line in a masterfully intertwined composition that recalls Hokusai’s treatment of the erotic subject elaborated in series, including Brocades from the East (Azuma nishiki) from 1812 and The Adonis Plant (Fukujusô) published between 1815 and 1817, probably his most famous series of Shunga prints. Picasso’s rendition of the erotic act in here enacts the intensity of Hokusai’s work, of an interaction between partners with similarities of style to his treatment of line and form on paper. Depicting different scenes of the erotic encounter, he presents both an investigation of a range historical influences and techniques, and a meditation on desire; playful and risqué.
When the artist’s exhibition of his recent paintings and drawings debuted at the Palais des Papes in Avignon in May 1970, many of the visitors were shocked to see his new works. Marie-Laure Bernadac wrote, “Picasso made a single being out of two, expressing the carnal fusion brought forth by the act of kissing. Never had erotic power been suggested with such realism. He bared sexuality in an explicit way in L’Etreinte: ‘Art is never chaste,’ the painter said” (The Ultimate Picasso, New York, 2000, p. 458). L’Etreinte represents a fantasy and a manifestation of desire, not only for the pleasures of the flesh but for the vitality of youth and the pursuance of his art. It shows his enduring interest in the masters of the past whilst remaining indefatigably fresh and vibrant in its treatment of the subject, an eternal and core metaphor in Picasso's visual language.