“Love is the greatest refreshment in life.”
—Pablo PicassoFemme au corsage à fleurs is from a series of six lithographic portraits that Pablo Picasso made in Cannes in the winter of 1957-58. The acclaimed lithographer Fernand Mourlot wrote that this series, which depicts Picasso’s partner Jaqueline Roque, was of great importance to the artist. Picasso relished the freedom lithography afforded him as he could produce several states from the same plate, allowing him to amend and rework the image alike how he would a painting. For each image in the series, the same zinc plate was used to create the various states, each time being sent between Cannes and Paris, from Picasso to the printer, in order to meet the artist’s requirements. The present lot, from the edition of a first state plate, is a pure wash drawing artfully applied in a manner that reveals the subtlety and lightness of Picasso’s painterly manipulation of the zinc surface. The artist captures Roque’s strong features, dark hair, and large eyes, creating a depiction of her that flows harmoniously, from the flowers on her bodice to the swift line of her jaw. The work stands out from the series, due to its beautiful sensitivity and tenderness towards the handling of her form and the quietness in her depiction.

Pablo Picasso and Jacqueline Roque, 1955. Image: Keystone / Alamy Stock Photo

Picasso began making portraits of Jaqualine Roque, his second wife and final muse, in 1955. They met at the Madoura Pottery studio in the small village of Vallauris, near Antibes, following Picasso’s relocation there to pursue his newfound interest in ceramics. Roque was working in the Madoura Pottery studio’s adjoining shop and Picasso, despite being in a relationship with Françoise Gilot, the mother of his children Paloma and Claude, soon became infatuated with her. Despite their almost fifty-year age gap, Picasso delivered a rose to Roque every day until she eventually agreed to be his companion. They remained together until the artist’s death in 1973, a relationship that for Picasso endured much longer than any other. Throughout this period, Picasso created over 400 portraits of Roque, making her the most featured face within his oeuvre.
- Literature
  Georges Bloch 846
  Fernand Mourlot 307
  Felix Reuße 728
- Artist Biography
  Pablo Picasso
  Spanish • 1881 - 1973
  One of the most dominant and influential artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso was a master of endless reinvention. While significantly contributing to the movements of Surrealism, Neoclassicism and Expressionism, he is best known for pioneering the groundbreaking movement of Cubism alongside fellow artist Georges Braque in the 1910s. In his practice, he drew on African and Iberian visual culture as well as the developments in the fast-changing world around him.
  Throughout his long and prolific career, the Spanish-born artist consistently pushed the boundaries of art to new extremes. Picasso's oeuvre is famously characterized by a radical diversity of styles, ranging from his early forays in Cubism to his Classical Period and his later more gestural expressionist work, and a diverse array of media including printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture as well as theater sets and costumes designs.
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Pablo Picasso

Femme au corsage à fleurs (Woman with Flower Bodice) (Bl. 846, M. 307, R. 728)

1957
Lithograph, on Arches paper, the full sheet.
S. 66.2 x 50.5 cm (26 1/8 x 19 7/8 in.)
Signed in red crayon and numbered 6/50 in pencil, Mourlot's first state (of three) (there were also a few artist's proofs), published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris, framed.

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Sold for £35,560

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