Pablo Picasso, Composition, Picasso and the Human Comedy, 1954

Description

Lithograph on vélin des Papeteries du Marais paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, … more Lithograph on vélin des Papeteries du Marais paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, Picasso and the Human Comedy, Verve: Revue Artistique et Littéraire, N° 29-30, November, 28, 1953 - February, 3, 1954. Published by Éditions de la revue Verve, Paris, and Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York under the direction of Tériade, éditeur, Paris; printed by Mourlot Frères, Paris, September 15, 1954. Excerpted from the volume, This book containing 180 drawings of Picasso executed in Vallauris from the 28th of November, 1953 to the 3rd of February, 1954, with a cover especially designed by the artist for this work, constitutes the double number 29/30 of Verve in the french edition. The American edition is published by Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. This work has been realized under the direction of Tériade, by the master printers Draeger Frères for the heliogravure in black and white and Mourlot Frères for the lithography, in color its printing was completed in Paris the 15th of September, 1954.

HISTORY OF PICASSO AND THE HUMAN COMEDY: The ‘Human Comedy’ series of drawings, which Picasso created in the winter of 1953/54 during a period of intense personal crisis, provides the basis for the ‘Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man’… A thematic analysis of the series not only shows how central the subject of artist and model was within the ‘Human Comedy’ staged by Picasso, but also how Picasso was to link the theme specifically with a questioning of old age and his own late style concerns. The ‘Human Comedy’ reads like a parody of the 1933 Vollard Suite, in which the artist is cast as a classical sculptor at the height of his powers. Twenty years later, we find that the idealized artist-god has shrunken in stature and shows his age in all too human terms. This comical about-face is marked by a significant shift in tone, from the ideals of classicism to a mocking of the grotesque body, which ultimately proves renewing and life-affirming despite the satirical self-caricature. It is this adoption of parody in both his style and his personal point of view that marks the ‘Human Comedy’ as the true beginning of Picasso’s late period. Within these bittersweet drawings, Picasso self-consciously thematizes the issue of an artist’s late style and begins in the process to confront both his own myth and historical identity, though always in masked terms.

HISTORY OF VERVE, REVUE ARTISTIQUE ET LITTÉRAIRE: In 1937, Tériade (1897-1983) met David Smart (1892-1952), the American publisher of Esquire magazine, who offered him to the opportunity to collaborate on the creation of 'the most beautiful magazine in the world'. Smart recognized in Tériade not only his ability as a publisher and knowledge of art history, but also his professional network and the name he made for himself in the Parisian art world—all crucial advantages for an editorial business. Having had the commercial conviction that beauty "sells", Smart intended to address the American public, attracted to French art, including Modern art, and the myth of artistic life in Paris. For his part, Tériade saw the proposed collaboration as an opportunity for a foray into the American market—a powerful ally of modern art in France. Éditions de la Revue Verve was founded in November 1937, largely funded by Smart, and directed by Tériade. Verve: Revue Artistique et Littéraire was a luxurious and ambitious art publication, published not only in French, but also in English in its early years, and distributed in Europe and the United States. Its configuration was reminiscent of that of the French art journals Cahiers d'art, Minotaure, and Arts et métiers graphiques, as well as that of the American art magazine, Coronet. However, Verve was superior to the competition because of its copious iconography and high printing quality. Its price varied between 60 and 150 francs (for double numbers) before the war, and between 120 and 350 francs during the war. Given its high price, the magazine mainly targeted art dealers, collectors, bibliophiles and wealthy art lovers. The exquisite aesthetics of the magazine was due to its editor-in-chief, Tériade, who sought to develop a platform for dialogue between image and text, visual arts and literature. The dominant factor of each issue remains its iconography, composed of reproductions of works by modern artists that Tériade admired, and 'masters', mainly of the French tradition, alongside photos and miniatures of medieval manuscripts. Tériade undoubtedly realized with his magazine an idea expressed in 1934 according to which books served as an 'ideal museum' or an exhibition where all the artistic masterpieces are gathered, which Malraux developed later in Le Musée imaginaire (Geneva: Skira, 1947), parts of which will appeared in Verve. During Second World War the periodicity of the journal changed, then irregular, and the less varied nature of the subjects treated. Thus, the issues published during the War (as well as in 1945 and 1946) were devoted exclusively to the reproduction of medieval illuminations. Finally, the special issues of the post-war period each present the recent production of a modern art painter. Only numbers 8 (1940) and 27-28 (1952) were an exception with a more varied summary. Verve's reception was positive as evidenced by several laudatory press articles throughout its run. The success of the magazine, Tériade's passion for modern art and medieval manuscripts, his admiration for the publications of Ambroise Vollard and Albert Skira, and his knowledge of the world of bibliophiles, soon led him to amplify his editorial activity. In 1943, despite the practical difficulties imposed by the war, his first artist's book was published, written and illustrated by Georges Rouault. Until 1975, Tériade published Éditions de la Revue Verve, nine books by modern artists, such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, entirely composed (text and images) by the artists; seventeen books illustrated by recognized modern artists; an album of lithographs by Fernand Léger on Paris; two photographic albums by Henri Cartier-Bresson; two monographs on the artists André Beaudin and Francisco Borès; a luxurious series of reproductions of medieval illuminations; and, a series of portfolios on great French architecture. Ultimately, the comparative study of the journal and the editions of Verve: Revue Artistique et Littéraire illustrates the importance of the tacit relational dynamic that results from the relations of collaboration and exchange of symbolic capital based on common perceptions and interests, as well as on feelings of mutual friendship and appreciation of actors in the art world who share a visual and bibliophilic culture and thus contribute to the success of the journal and the publishing house. Cite: Poppy Sfakianaki, ‘La revue Verve (1937–60): Un tremplin pour la carrière de Tériade dans les éditions d’art’, Journal of European Periodical Studies, 4.2 (Winter 2019), 70–89.

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor is one of the most recognized figures of twentieth century art. During his artistic career, which lasted more than 75 years, he created thousands of works using all kinds of mediums. He changed art more profoundly than any other artist of his time. First famous for pioneering cubism, Picasso continued to develop his art with a pace and vitality comparable to the accelerated technological and cultural changes of the twentieth century. Each change embodied a radical idea, and might be said that Picasso lived several artistic lifetimes. less