Crayon and ink on paper, cubist study of figure. Signed and attr. Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) on upper right corner. Dated 3.11.59. 12.75 x 8.75 in. (32.4 x 22.2 cm.) Pablo Picasso was one of the most famous and influential artists of the 20th century. His ingenious use of form, color, and perspective, had a profound impact on later generations of painters, including Willem de Kooning and David Hockney. “There are artists who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun,†he once said. Born Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano María de los Remedios de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso on October 25, 1881 in Málaga, Spain. His prodigious artistic talent was cultivated early on by his father the painter Jose Ruíz Blasco. Picasso went on to attend the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, living in for a time in Barcelona before settling in Paris in 1904. Immersed in the salons of Gertrude Stein, he rapidly transitioned from Neo-Impressionism, through the Blue Period and Rose Period, before reaching a culmination in his proto-Cubist masterpiece Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907). Constantly in search of innovation and pictorial solutions, and in dialogue with his friend Georges Braque, Picasso melded together the forms of African sculptures and the multiple perspective of Paul Cézanne to produce Cubism. Not limited to painting, he found ever new ways of expressing himself through collage, sculpture, and ceramics. Deeply affected by the violence of the Spanish Civil War, Picasso created what is arguably his greatest and most overtly political work Guernica in 1937, a mural-sized painting depicting violence and horror in contrasting grayscale. The artist died on April 8, 1973 in Mougins, France. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as institutions devoted solely to his life work, such as the Museo Picasso Málaga, the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, and the Musée National Picasso in Paris. PROVENANCE: Private collection (Taranto, Italy)

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

By [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, a work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: In our opinion, a work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century : In our opinion, this work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Bears signature : In our opinion, the signature on the artwork may be spurious.
Apocryphal : Of doubtful authenticity.