Key Deal Facts
The Artist: Pablo Picasso is regarded by many experts as the most important artist of the 20th century. Born in Spain, Picasso spent most of his adult life in France working in a variety of mediums but most known as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theater designer. Picasso co-founded the Cubist movement in the 1910’s, invented the constructed sculpture, helped pioneer collage, and was known for having constantly evolved having explored a variety of mediums and styles through his career., The History: Picasso’s work is often categorized into periods. While the names of many of his later periods are debated, the most commonly accepted periods in his work are the Blue Period (1901–1904), the Rose Period (1904–1906), the African-influenced Period (1907–1909), Analytic Cubism (1909–1912), and Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919), also referred to as the Crystal period. Much of Picasso's work of the late 1910s and early 1920s is in a neoclassical style, and his work in the mid-1920s often has characteristics of Surrealism. His later work often combines elements of his earlier styles., The Artwork: The present work, Femme Assise, was executed in 1922 - 1923. Following the destruction and devastation of World War I, Picasso and many of his contemporaries reverted to a Neoclassical style that rejected many of the tenets of the Cubism that was being explored just prior to World War I. This work is an example of his neoclassical style. This work has an incredibly interesting provenance. The work comes from the Collection of Marina Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter. The artwork was unlawfully stolen out of the artist's studio and was returned to the Estate of the Artist by the French Government. This work is unique and has been confirmed by the artist’s son, Claude Picasso, the current expert for the artist.
