L'entremetteuse (La Celestine) by Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso
1881-1973 | Spanish

L'entremetteuse (La Celestine)
(The matchmaker, La Celestine)

Signed “Picasso” (lower right)
Ink and wash on paper

Pablo Picasso's Blue Period is among the most iconic bodies of work in art history. Born from tragedy and creative experimentation, this phase laid the foundation for his visionary career, making him one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Picasso's Blue Period works are highly rare and coveted by collectors, and this ink drawing, L'entremetteuse (La Celestine), embodies the genius and drama of this transformative period.

Displaying Picasso's early exploration of expressive line and form, the composition of L'entremetteuse presents a striking scene. A well-dressed gentleman gazes at a standing nude figure, while an older woman peers over his shoulder, similarly transfixed. The contrast between the bold, dark forms of the man's attire and the delicate, fluid lines of the woman's body highlights Picasso’s mastery of composition and narrative, even at this early stage of his career.

Here, Picasso pairs his experimental approach to drawing with a somber yet evocative subject, characteristic of his Blue Period. The genesis of this stylistic period is often linked to the tragic suicide of Picasso’s close friend, Carlos Casagemas, which deeply affected the artist and led to his first significant departure in style. During the three years of the Blue Period, Picasso divided his time between Paris and Spain, producing works imbued with themes of isolation, poverty and introspection. His muted, monochromatic palette became a visual metaphor for sorrow, lending his creations an enduring poignancy that continues to resonate today.

Notably, this drawing and its subject are connected to another famed Blue Period portrait of an elderly woman now at the Picasso Museum in Paris, which bears the same title of La Celestine. This portrait depicts Carlota Valdivia, the owner of the brothel located next door to Picasso's Barcelona studio, who certainly was the inspiration for the captivating scene of our drawing as well. He gives Carlota the moniker of La Celestina after the 15th-century Spanish literary masterpiece of the same name by Ferdinand Rojas, whose central character is a bawdy matchmaker named Celestina. Almost 70 years later in 1968, Picasso returned to this same subject to create an incredible suite of 66 etchings, rendering the full story of La Celestina in lively, expressive detail.

Born in 1881 in Málaga, Spain, Picasso spent his childhood studying drawing and painting under his father, Jose Ruíz, who taught at the local art school. Picasso spent a year at the Academy of Arts in Madrid, before traveling to Paris in 1900. Landing in the center of the European art world, Picasso began to mingle in the company of other artists, quickly establishing himself as a critical figure in the thriving Parisian art scene. Pushing the boundaries of his own creativity throughout his long career, Picasso devoted himself to artistic production—resulting in one of the richest and most important oeuvres in art history.

Works by Picasso are some of the most sought-after today, with most residing in esteemed private and public collections. This drawing was held for decades in the collection of the distinguished art history professor Margery Williams Adams, and it was later bequeathed to the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Similar drawings by Picasso from the same time period can be found at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Barnes Collection and the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

Circa 1903

The Comité Picasso has confirmed the authenticity of this work, and it is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, signed by Paloma Ruiz-Picasso and Diana Widmaier-Ruiz-Picasso.

Paper: 10" high x 7 1/8" wide (25.40 x 18.10 cm) Frame: 22" high x 18 1/2" wide x 1 1/8" deep (55.88 x cm)

Provenance:
Frank Channing Smith, Jr., Worcester, Massachusetts
Sale, Parke Bernet, 1952
Dr. and Mrs. Carlisle Adams, Charlotte, North Carolina
William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Exhibited:
Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Pablo Picasso, Feb. 6 - Mar. 1, 1934, as Nude and Seated Man, cat. no. 78