Pablo Picasso
Clowne et acrobate, 30 January 1954
Coloured crayon on paper
9 1/2 x 12 5/8 in, 24 x 32 cm
Signed, dated and numbered 'Picasso 30.1.54 I' lower right
‘Clowne et acrobate’ is a joyous drawing Picasso created for the 1954 edition of Verve magazine which was dedicated to the artist. He made a series of 180 original drawings...
‘Clowne et acrobate’ is a joyous drawing Picasso created for the 1954 edition of Verve magazine which was dedicated to the artist. He made a series of 180 original drawings for the double edition published by the critic and patron of the arts Stratis Teriade,. The magazine was dedicated to circulating the ideas of those at the forefront of the arts, with the most prominent figures within the visual and literary avant-garde contributing, including Henri Matisse, James Joyce, Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky and Ernest Hemmingway.
The circus is a prevalent theme in Picasso’s art and one which he returned to again and again over the decades. The subject allowed for Picasso to work in an expansive manner, dealing with both a broad range of notions in varying degrees of seriousness, from the pensive yet warm harlequins of his Rose Period, to the caricatures of his later work.
Depicted in a naïve manner Picasso delves into frivolity and a sense of performance in ‘Clowne et acrobate’. The simplistic bright lines bring a playfulness and simplicity to the drawing.
Aside from the magazine run of 2000 copies, ‘Clowne et acrobate’ was also transformed into a lithograph in an edition of 75.
The circus is a prevalent theme in Picasso’s art and one which he returned to again and again over the decades. The subject allowed for Picasso to work in an expansive manner, dealing with both a broad range of notions in varying degrees of seriousness, from the pensive yet warm harlequins of his Rose Period, to the caricatures of his later work.
Depicted in a naïve manner Picasso delves into frivolity and a sense of performance in ‘Clowne et acrobate’. The simplistic bright lines bring a playfulness and simplicity to the drawing.
Aside from the magazine run of 2000 copies, ‘Clowne et acrobate’ was also transformed into a lithograph in an edition of 75.
Provenance
Sotheby’s, New York, 11 May 1988, lot 194
Private Collection, Japan
Private Collection, London (acquired from the above)
Exhibitions
Los Angeles, California, UCLA Art Galleries, “Bonne Fete” Monsieur Picasso, 1961, no. 103 (as Les Gens du Cirque)Literature
C. Zervos, Pablo Picasso: Oeuvres de 1953 à 1955, Vol. XVI, Paris, 1965, no. 233, p. 74, illus.
A. Wofsy, Picasso’s Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Sculpture: The Fifties I 1950-1955, The Picasso Project, San Francisco, 2004, no. 54-133, p. 204, illus.