Lot 25

Private collection, South Africa
Thence by descent
Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 13 November 2019, lot 26
Private collection, Melbourne

Bloch, G., Catalogue de l'Oeuvre gravee lithographie, no. 582
Mourlot, F, Picasso Lithographs, no. 142

In 1949, Pablo Picasso's interest in lobsters was first seen in a duo of lithographs with a very similar focus; "The Lobster" and "Lobsters and Fish (Homards et poissons)". In "Lobsters and Fish (Homards et poissons)" 1949 the entire focus is being drawn to the centre of an abundance of crustaceans. It is almost comical, Picasso's skill at depicting humorous subjects in a serious matter throughout this print. Two eel like creatures with boggling eyes and jarring teeth, a cubist crab with odd-shaped pincers and protruding eyes and a lobster all amongst it.

The 1949 lithographs were a prerequisite to one of his most well-known paintings, Lobster and Cat 1973 (the Collection of the Guggenheim Museum, New York). Attesting to the artists unbroken creative energy during the last years of his life, this painting demonstrated Picasso's ability to derive serious implications from what is essentially humorous. The subject of the lobster refers to one of the most beloved paintings of French art, Jean-Baptise-Simeon Chardin's "The Ray" 1728 (the Collection of the Louvre Museum, France).

Other impressions of this print are currently held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Harvard Art Museums, Massachusetts.

Hannah Ryan
Art Specialist

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