Pablo Picasso
(Spain, France 1881–1973)
- Title
- Nude in a rocking chair
- Alternative title:
- Femme nue à la chaise à bascule Mujer desnuda en una mecedora Nu à la chaise à bascule Femme nue au fauteuil à bascule
- Year
- 1956
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 196.0 x 130.8cm stretcher; 213.0 x 147.5 x 8.0cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed u.r., black oil "Picasso". Dated c. verso canvas, black oil "26.3./ 56.".
- Credit
- Purchased 1981
- Accession number
- 66.1981
- Copyright
- © Pablo Picasso/Succession Pablo Picasso. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney
- Location
- Modern gallery
- Further information
By the time he painted this faceless female figure, Picasso was a towering legend of modern art. Yet to say she is faceless is not entirely accurate: across her torso, breasts, belly and pudenda the painter has inscribed the disconcerting semblance of his own features. Her nipples are the tell-tale black pupils of his eyes, her serrated vagina is his equally aggressive mouth. Having thus invaded her body, his own erupts in the manner of a physiological mutation. It is not an easy image, but it is wholly truthful to Picasso's deepest intuitions and experience. Anger belies the innocuousness of the subject matter. Fear underscores the anger. It is only very marginally a work of art about appearances. Instead, Picasso enacts a form of black magic, an exorcising ritual of bodily destruction and psychic derangement that plays fast and loose with reality - all within the conventions of the seated portrait. That he did this through the agency of his last great love, Jacqueline Rogue, setting her violated form in the serenity of his new villa at Cannes, is admirable and repulsive in equal measure. The gesticulating palm tree may well allude to Matisse, whose recent death reminded Picasso of the inescapability of mortality.
Art Gallery Handbook, 1999.
- Provenance
- Private Collection, 1976-May 1981, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW 1981. Collector wishes to remain anonymous.
Galerie Beyeler (Switzerland), Feb 1968-1976, Basel/Switzerland
Kronofogdemyndigheten (Sweden), Stockholm/Sweden
Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris (France, estab. 1941), Paris/France
Theodor Ahrenberg (Sweden), Stockholm/Sweden - Bibliography (23)
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Picasso: The Last Decades (2002), Terence Maloon (Australia) (Curator), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Look (Oct 2002), Jill Sykes (Australia) (Editor), 10pm [print management] (Australia), Newtown, New South Wales, Australia.
Picasso: las grandes series (2001), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Spain), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Spain), Madrid, Spain.
Picasso. Indoor and outdoor landscapes (1999), Maria Teresa Ocaña (Spain) (Director), Electa España (Spain), Spain.
Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook (1999), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Matisse and Picasso (1998), Yve-Alain Bois (Author), Flammarion (France), New York, United States of America.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections (1994), Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Le dernier Picasso 1953-1973 (1988), Musée National d' Art Moderne, Paris (France), Musée National d' Art Moderne, Paris (France), Paris, France.
Late Picasso: Paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints 1953-1972 (1988), Tate Britain (England), Tate Britain (England), Millbank, London, England.
Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook (1988), Annabel Davie (Editor), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Picasso (1984), Patrick McCaughey (Northern Ireland; Australia, b.1943) (Editor), Judith Ryan (Australia, b.1941) (Editor), International Cultural Corporation of Australia (Australia), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Portrait of a Gallery (1984), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Capel Court Corporation Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Art and Australia (Vol. 22, No. 1) (Spring 1984), Elwyn Lynn (Australia, b.1917, d.1997) (Editor), Fine Arts Press Pty Limited (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection Series 4 (Winter 1983), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Three years on: a selection of acquisitions 1978-1981 (1981), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Picasso (1977), Fundación Juan March (Spain) (Author), Publisher unknown, Madrid, Spain.
Exposicio Picasso (1977), Museu Picasso (Spain) (Author), Publisher unknown.
Picasso Oeuvres de 1956 a 1957 (Unknown), Christian Zervos (France) (Author), Éditions Cahiers d'art (France), Paris, France.
Picasso: aus dem Museum of Modern Art New York und Schweizer Sammlungen (1976), Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland) (Author), Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland), Basel, Switzerland.
Picasso in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (1972), William Rubin (United States of America) (Author), Museum of Modern Art, New York (United States of America), New York, United States of America.
Picasso at 90: the late work (1971), Klaus Gallwitz (Author), Weidenfeld & Nicolson (England), London, England.
Ausstellung "Summertime" (1970), Galerie Beyeler (Switzerland), Publisher unknown, Unknown.
Ausstellung "Artistes espagnols" (1969), Galerie Beyeler (Switzerland) (Author), Publisher unknown.
- Exhibition history (17)
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Matisse and Picasso: A Gentle Rivalry, (02 Feb 1999–05 May 1999), at Kimbell Art Museum (United States of America), 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd Fort Worth Texas, United States of America 76107-2792.
Exposicio Picasso, (05 Dec 1977–10 Jan 1978), at Museu Picasso (Spain), Montcade 15-19 Barcelona, Spain E08003.
Picasso: The Last Decades, (09 Nov 2002–16 Feb 2003), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Picasso, (10 Oct 1984–02 Dec 1984), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Le dernier Picasso 1953-1973, (15 Feb 1988–16 May 1988), at Musée National d' Art Moderne, Paris (France), Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, France.
Picasso: aus dem Museum of Modern Art New York und Schweizer Sammlungen, (15 Jun 1976–12 Sep 1976), at Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland), St Alban-Graben 16 CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland.
Three years on: Acquisitions 1978-81, (15 Oct 1981–01 Dec 1981), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Picasso, Braque, Leger: Masterpieces from Swiss Collections, (17 Jan 1976–07 Mar 1976), at The Sarah Campbell Blafter Gallery, Houston (United States of America), Texas, United States of America.
Picasso, Braque, Leger: Masterpieces from Swiss Collections, (19 Mar 1976–04 May 1976), at San Francisco Museum of Art (United States of America), San Francisco, California, United States of America 94131.
Late Picasso: Paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints 1953-1972, (23 Jun 1988–18 Sep 1988), at Tate Britain (England), Millbank, London, England, United Kingdom SW1P 4RG.
Picasso: las grandes series, (26 Mar 2001–18 Jun 2001), at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Spain), Santa Isabel, 52 28012 Madrid, Spain.
Picasso. Indoor and outdoor landscapes, (26 Oct 1999–30 Jan 2000), at Museu Picasso (Spain), Montcade 15-19 Barcelona, Spain E08003.
Picasso, (28 Jul 1984–23 Sep 1984), at National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road] (Australia, estab. 1968, closed 1999), 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne Victoria Australia 3000.
Picasso, Braque, Leger: Masterpieces from Swiss Collections, (30 Oct 1975–04 Jan 1976), at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (United States of America), 2400 Third Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America 55404.
Ausstellung "Summertime", (Jul 1970–Sep 1970), at Galerie Beyeler (Switzerland), 4001 Basel Baumeleingasse 9 Switzerland.
Ausstellung "Artistes espagnols", (May 1969–Jun 1969), at Galerie Beyeler (Switzerland), 4001 Basel Baumeleingasse 9 Switzerland.
Picasso, (Sep 1977–Nov 1977), at Fundación Juan March (Spain), Castello, 77 Madrid, Spain.