Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Lot 223

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Leçon de dessin

Closed14 November 2017

Price Realised

USD 77,500

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Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Leçon de dessin
signed and dated 'Picasso 16.4.53.' (lower center)
colored wax crayons and pencil on paper
26 x 19 ¾ in. (66 x 50.2 cm.)
Drawn on 16 April 1953

Edward Quinn, London (gift from the artist); sale, Sotheby's, London, 1 December 1993, lot 255.
Stanley J. Seeger, London (acquired at the above sale); sale, Sotheby's, New York, 8 May 2001, lot 61.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Specialist note

Maya Widmaier-Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Claude Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work as a collaboration with Françoise Gilot, Claude Picasso and Paloma Picasso.

Drawn in spring 1953 while Picasso was living in Vallauris at “La Galloise,” the present work was executed as the result of Picasso giving his children, Claude and Paloma, a drawing lesson. Edward Quinn, who photographed this scene as it was taking place (fig. 1), recalls that Claude and Paloma were on the floor drawing that day, and asked for their father’s help. “A very special father giving his children a drawing lesson. Picasso explains to Paloma that a sharp pencil is necessary to good drawing. Using colored pencils and imitating a child’s technique, he sketches the sun, a flower, a hen, and a multi-colored bird holding a butterfly in its beak. Taking over from their father, Claude draws a house with smoke coming out of the chimney, and Paloma sketches the outlines of a garden” (E. Quinn and P. Daix, op. cit., p. 82). To complete the family effort, each family member signed the drawing.