Lot 30 D

Picasso was constantly devoted to love – in his life as well as his work – and he often dealt with the theme of the ill-matched pair. He thematised the antitheses of old vs young and ugly vs beautiful particularly often in his later years. At the time our masterful, large-format pen-and-brush drawing was created, Picasso was 86 and married to Jacqueline Roque, his seventh romantic companion. He had met this young woman, who was less than half his age, in Vallauris in 1952 – at the Ramiés’ pottery workshop, where she worked as a shop assistant.
“Omnia vincit Amor”: Picasso’s drawing may also present a subtly humorous allusion to his own situation and this extreme age difference. At any rate, all-conquering Love is still trying to find a way to achieve her goal here. Amor, who is armed with two arrows, has already shot past the intended target – that is, he has flown beyond the ill-matched pair of the seated old man and the young lady standing behind him – while his mother Venus, standing in a chariot, holds him back. The scene does not lack a fine sense for situational comedy.
At the same time, it reveals Picasso’s interest in classic motifs by other famous painters, such as Diego Velázquez in this case. Referring back to his iconic “Las Meninas” of 1656 (see comparative ill.), the little infanta is to be found standing not in the centre of the picture but behind the now somewhat decrepit, seated painter and is now a grown young woman – both are dressed in the period clothing of the Spanish court. Technically brilliant, drawn with assurance and modelled in relief with the brush, this market-fresh work on paper leaves viewers enough latitude- their flights of fantasy are not cut short.