PABLO PICASSO Lot n° 548

Head of a Musketeer - Tête d'homme. Felt-tip pen on buff paper (sketchpad). (19)69. Approx. 26.5 x 21 cm. Signed lower center, dated upper right. The drawing was made in May 1969 and comes from the important late work of Pablo Picasso, in which the Musketeers occupy a prominent position. At the time the sketch was made, the artist was living in Mougins with his muse Jacqueline Roque. When they met around 1953, Pablo Picasso was already 72 and his muse only 26. The phase in Mougins is marked by an operation on the artist. At the beginning of 1966 Picasso returned to his studio and began to work. New strength and inspiration for him are, among other things, the reading of "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas, but also William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, which he reads during his recovery phase after the operation. The Musketeers inspire Picasso with their courage, strength, undisciplined bravado, and their role as womanizers. Picasso captures these qualities in his study and in one of his famous late works, "Mousquetaire à la pipe" (1968). The works from the last period of Pablo Picasso's work are a demonstration of his constant search for novelty, which refers to his style, technique and subject as well as to the history of his own creative work. Zervos XXXI, 201; The Picasso Project 69-204. Provenance: Private collection, Rhineland. Taxation: differential taxation (VAT: margin scheme).