With its basic arrangement of an inclined tabletop, apple, and seemingly unfinished passages, this watercolor owes much to the art of Paul Cézanne, who Picasso once referred to as his “only master.” While the object at right traditionally has been identified as a fan, it may depict the blue paper in which sugar was packaged, folded into a series of knife-edged planes. The rhythmic expanse not only animates the composition but also highlights the faceted structures that are the hallmark of Picasso’s early Cubist style.
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Inscription: Signed [at a later date] (lower right, in pencil): Picasso [underlined]
Marking: watermark: Ingres
[possibly Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris]; [possibly Svensk Franska Konstgalleriet (Gösta Olson), Stockholm]; Dr. Elsa Appelberg Ulfsparre, Stockholm (by 1953–at least 1959); [Galerie Berggruen et Cie, Paris, in 1964]; sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, November 16, 1983, no. 59, sold to Cooper; Douglas Cooper, Monte Carlo (1983–d. 1984; his bequest to McCarty Cooper); his partner and adopted son, William McCarty Cooper, London (Churchglade Ltd., Switzerland, 1984–91; sold in September 1991 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (1991–2013; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–16; gift to MMA)
Stockholm. Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet. "Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, 1918–1953: Jubileumsutställning," November 28–December 15, 1953, no. 105 (as "Sucrier et éventail," 1910, lent by Elsa Appelberg-Ulfsparre).
Stockholm. Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet. "Picasso," September 26–October 18, 1959, no. 28 (as "Sucrier et éventail, 1910, lent by Elsa Appelberg-Ulfsparre).
Kassel. Museum Fridericianum. "Documenta III: Internationale Ausstellung," June 27–October 5, 1964, no. 1 (in display of works by Picasso under "Handzeichnungen"; lent by Heinz Berggruen, Paris).
Frankfurter Kunstverein. "Picasso: 150 Handzeichnungen aus sieben Jahrzehnten," May 29–July 4, 1965, no. 39 (as 1910).
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne. "À la rencontre de Pierre Reverdy et ses amis Picasso, Braque, Laurens, Gris, Léger, Matisse, Modigliani, Manolo, Gargallo, Derain, Chagall, Giacometti, Miró," summer 1970, no. 283 (as 1910).
Paris. Galerie Berggruen. "Œuvres cubistes: Braque, Gris, Léger, Picasso," May 1973, no. 5 (as "Sucrier, éventail et pomme").
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Douglas Cooper und die Meister des Kubismus," November 22, 1987–January 17, 1988, no. 55 (as 1909–10).
London. Tate Gallery. "Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism," February 3–April 4, 1988, no. 55.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris: Drawings from the Douglas Cooper Collection," June 16–July 31, 1988, no catalogue.
Stockholm. Moderna Museet. "Pablo Picasso," October 15, 1988–January 8, 1989, no. 157 (as 1909–10).
Houston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," October 14–December 30, 1990, no. 58 (as 1909–10).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," January 31–April 21, 1991, no. 58.
New York. Pierpont Morgan Library. "New York Collects: Drawings and Watercolors, 1900–1950," May 20–August 29, 1999, no. 18.
Boston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Facets of Cubism," December 7, 2005–April 16, 2006, not in brochure.
New York. Frick Collection. "Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition," October 4, 2011–January 8, 2012, no. 44.
Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art. "Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition," January 29–May 6, 2012, no. 44.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 59.
Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, 1918–1953: Jubileumsutställning. Exh. cat., Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet. Stockholm, 1953, p. 94, no. 105.
Wilhelm Boeck and Jaime Sabartés. Picasso. New York, 1955, pp. 151, 462, no. 52, ill., and p. 490, no. 111 (French ed., pp. 169, 462, no. 52, ill., and p. 490, no. 111).
Picasso. Exh. cat., Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet. Stockholm, 1959, unpaginated, no. 28, ill.
Documenta III. Exh. cat., Alte Galerie Museum Fridericianum and Orangerie Kassel. Vol. 2, "Handzeichnungen."Kassel, 1964, p. 186, no. 1, ill. p. 187.
Picasso: 150 Handzeichnungen aus sieben Jahrzehnten. Exh. cat., Frankfurter Kunstverein. Hamburg, 1965, unpaginated, no. 39, ill.
Picasso: Dessins et aquarelles, 1899–1965. Exh. cat., Galerie Knoedler. Paris, 1966, unpaginated, no. 33, ill.
Jean Leymarie. Picasso Drawings. Geneva, 1967, pp. 37, 105, ill. p. 36, as 1910.
À la rencontre de Pierre Reverdy et ses amis Picasso, Braque, Laurens, Gris, Léger, Matisse, Modigliani, Manolo, Gargallo, Derain, Chagall, Giacometti, Miró. Exh. cat., Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris. [Saint-Paul-de-Vence], 1970, p. 153, no. 283.
Franco Russoli and Fiorella Minervino. L'opera completa di Picasso cubista. Milan, 1972, p. 105, no. 359, ill., as 1910.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 26, Supplément aux années 1907–1909. Paris, 1973, unpaginated (list of plates), no. 405, pl. 144, as winter 1909.
Françoise Cachin and Fiorella Minervino. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Picasso, 1907–1916. Paris, 1977, p. 106, no. 359, ill. p. 105, as 1910.
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet. Picasso, The Cubist Years, 1907–1916: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and Related Works. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 1979, French]. Boston, 1979, p. 249, no. 313, ill., as "Casket, Apple, Sugar-bowl, Fan" (French ed., as "Coffret, pomme, sucrier, éventail").
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1987, pp. 26, 28, 136, 211, no. 55, ill. p. 138.
Gunilla von Hall. Expressen "Det här har farfar gjort bra, fru Picasso!." (October 15, 1988), ill. (installation photo, Exh. Stockholm 1988–89).
Picasso Porträtterad. Exh. cat., Moderna Museet. Stockholm, 1988, p. 241, no. 157.
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, 1990, p. 62, no. 58.
Marilyn McCully inNew York Collects: Drawings and Watercolors, 1900–1950. Exh. cat., Pierpont Morgan Library. New York, 1999, p. 66, no. 18, ill. p. 67.
Brigitte Leal, Christine Piot, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. The Ultimate Picasso. New York, 2000, p. 508, fig. 303, as "Jewelry Box, Apple, Sugar Bowl, and Fan" (French ed., as "Coffret, pomme, sucrier, éventail").
Marilyn McCully in Susan Grace Galassi and Marilyn McCully. Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition. Exh. cat., Frick Collection. New York, 2011, p. 186, no. 44, ill. p. 187.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 47, as 1909–10.
Michael FitzGerald inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 43, 304(2)n.33, no. 59, ill. p. 44 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 283–84, figs. 9A (on display in the residence of Douglas Cooper, Monte Carlo, ca. 1980), 59 (installation photo, Exh. Stockholm 1953).
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
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