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拍品專文
Picasso first encountered the wandering acrobats of Paris on the Place des Invalides in 1904. The lives of the so-called saltimbanques, who had performed in the squares of Paris since the 15th century, paralleled that of bohemian artists, as they too lived vicariously by their art. Despite the harsh reality of their impoverished existence, Picasso portrayed them with an almost otherworldly grace in intimate scenes of family life (lots 37 and 38), portraits (lot 36) and theatrical tableaus.
Very few impressions from La Suite des Saltimbanques were printed at the time of their creation in 1904-05 and a proper edition was only issued in 1913 after the plates had been purchased by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Before printing the edition, he had the plates steel-faced, a process whereby they were electroplated with a thin layer of steel, hardening them so that they could be printed in larger numbers. As a consequence the etched lines lose depth and the plates print less strongly, losing much of the subtleties and nuances of the images. It is only in the early impressions before steel-facing that the beauty of these prints can be fully appreciated.
Impressions before steel-facing of La Famille de Saltimbanques au Macaque (lot 38) are amongst the rarest of the series, presumably because the plate deteriorated rapidly with oxidation, making printing from the plate difficult. According to Brigitte Baer approximately ten impressions were pulled by Eugêne Delâtre in 1905, of which she knew the whereabouts of only three: in the Musée Picasso, Paris (unsigned); the Baltimore Museum of Art (unsigned); and in the collection of Dr. W. Rosenberg, Berlin (signed and dedicated to Guillaume Apollinaire; subsequently sold at Kornfeld, Bern, on 21 June 1996, lot 101, for CHF 149,500). The present, signed impression is appearing on the market for the first time since it was purchased directly from Picasso's dealer Clovis Sagot in 1912.
Very few impressions from La Suite des Saltimbanques were printed at the time of their creation in 1904-05 and a proper edition was only issued in 1913 after the plates had been purchased by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Before printing the edition, he had the plates steel-faced, a process whereby they were electroplated with a thin layer of steel, hardening them so that they could be printed in larger numbers. As a consequence the etched lines lose depth and the plates print less strongly, losing much of the subtleties and nuances of the images. It is only in the early impressions before steel-facing that the beauty of these prints can be fully appreciated.
Impressions before steel-facing of La Famille de Saltimbanques au Macaque (lot 38) are amongst the rarest of the series, presumably because the plate deteriorated rapidly with oxidation, making printing from the plate difficult. According to Brigitte Baer approximately ten impressions were pulled by Eugêne Delâtre in 1905, of which she knew the whereabouts of only three: in the Musée Picasso, Paris (unsigned); the Baltimore Museum of Art (unsigned); and in the collection of Dr. W. Rosenberg, Berlin (signed and dedicated to Guillaume Apollinaire; subsequently sold at Kornfeld, Bern, on 21 June 1996, lot 101, for CHF 149,500). The present, signed impression is appearing on the market for the first time since it was purchased directly from Picasso's dealer Clovis Sagot in 1912.