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Lot Essay
While Picasso's wife Jacqueline was the artist's chief model in his last years, the male figures in Picasso's late work have more varied sources. They are often an alternate representation of the artist himself, or they may be figures from fictional sources, such as the mousquetaires, or dead artists brought back to life, like Rembrandt or Edgar Degas. Prior to 1965, the young men and boys who feature in Picasso's paintings and drawings might easily recall faces or types that Picasso and Jacqueline encountered in day trips away from their home in Mougins. After November 1965, however, following major surgery, Picasso grew increasingly reclusive, relying ever more on memory and imagination to supply the many personages who populate his pictures.
Discussing his late drawings with Roberto Otero, Picasso explained the development of the narratives as he tapped into his world of whimsy. These characters are propelled by the artist's own imagination, an internal narrative develops, there is an organic process of creation as the characters almost prompt Picasso: "Of course, one never knows what's going to come out, but as soon as the drawing gets underway, a story or an idea is born. And that's it. Then the story grows, like theatre or life and the drawing is turned into other drawings, a real novel. It's great fun, believe me. At least, I enjoy myself to no end inventing these stories, and I spend hour after hour while I draw, observing my creatures and thinking about the mad things they're up to. Basically, it's my way of writing fiction" (quoted in R. Otero, Forever Picasso, An Intimate Look at His Last Years, New York, 1974, p. 171).
Executed on 18 December 1969, Homme et femme nus et deux têtes accordingly comprises disparate archetypal figures. Two women and the face of a man on the left of the composition are confronted by a large and richly worked seated mousquetaire figure on the right. A few years after the present sheet was executed, Karl Gallwitz observed, "By eliminating the usual distance from the subject, he forces the viewer to confront the picture directly. Liberties he seems to have taken in combining details, parts of the body, or movements turn out to be compelling and 'natural' when we place ourselves in the painter's position, who no longer tolerates any separating gap. Now the viewers as well as the pipe-smokers and musketeers, lovers and portrait heads are forced into the almost frightening situation of having to 'squat down their noses'...The figures are held up to us like a mirror pressed into our face, enlarging and distorting the image" (Picasso at 90, The Late Work, New York, 1971, pp. 185-186).
Discussing his late drawings with Roberto Otero, Picasso explained the development of the narratives as he tapped into his world of whimsy. These characters are propelled by the artist's own imagination, an internal narrative develops, there is an organic process of creation as the characters almost prompt Picasso: "Of course, one never knows what's going to come out, but as soon as the drawing gets underway, a story or an idea is born. And that's it. Then the story grows, like theatre or life and the drawing is turned into other drawings, a real novel. It's great fun, believe me. At least, I enjoy myself to no end inventing these stories, and I spend hour after hour while I draw, observing my creatures and thinking about the mad things they're up to. Basically, it's my way of writing fiction" (quoted in R. Otero, Forever Picasso, An Intimate Look at His Last Years, New York, 1974, p. 171).
Executed on 18 December 1969, Homme et femme nus et deux têtes accordingly comprises disparate archetypal figures. Two women and the face of a man on the left of the composition are confronted by a large and richly worked seated mousquetaire figure on the right. A few years after the present sheet was executed, Karl Gallwitz observed, "By eliminating the usual distance from the subject, he forces the viewer to confront the picture directly. Liberties he seems to have taken in combining details, parts of the body, or movements turn out to be compelling and 'natural' when we place ourselves in the painter's position, who no longer tolerates any separating gap. Now the viewers as well as the pipe-smokers and musketeers, lovers and portrait heads are forced into the almost frightening situation of having to 'squat down their noses'...The figures are held up to us like a mirror pressed into our face, enlarging and distorting the image" (Picasso at 90, The Late Work, New York, 1971, pp. 185-186).