Portrait of Suzanne Bloch
Encyclopedia
Portrait of Suzanne Bloch is a painting by the Spanish
artist Pablo Picasso
, executed in Paris in 1904, towards the end of his blue period. The subject, Suzanne Bloch, was a singer known for her Wagner
interpretations, and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch.
, in 1904, and she sat for a portrait
by Picasso in his studio at 13 rue Ravignan in Paris
, between the late spring and early summer of that year. A pen and ink sketch
heightened with gouache
, and signed and dated by Picasso, preceded the oil painting; it is now conserved at the Neubury Coray collection, in Ascona
, Switzerland
.
has been described by Luiz Marques, professor of art history at Unicamp, as exemplary of "the blue period, to which it fully belongs." It has been called the last important work of the blue period, although Palau i Fabre says that it is "difficult to date and determine the stage of transition from one period to the other—which in any case was not a sudden shift but a gently nuanced, though intermittent, progress". In a similar vein, Denys Chevalier has written: "Any attempt ... to date the blue period too precisely can only lead to errors".
The painting, fully imbued with a somber, melancholy aura, is rendered in monochromatic
shades, varying from blue
to blue-green
, with the sporadic presence of warmer tones. Nevertheless, it is possible to notice that the painting already announces some characteristics of a future transition in the Spanish painter’s pictorial style, foreshadowing cubism
. In the words of Camesasca, quoted by Marques: “[…] this portrait is marked by the emergence of a reflection about the plastic-chromatic structure of Cézanne’s works, in the scope of a 'post-impressionism, already absorbed in the problems which will make the art explode.”
, Munich sold the painting ca. 1916 to Sally Falk, Mannheim, but his collection was already dispersed in 1919, under the supervision of the Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin, and Picasso's Lady without hat, blue portrait was acquired by Mechthild Princess Lichnowsky, who kept it at her private collection in London
. From the English capital, the painting went to Lugano
, in Switzerland
, where it was held in the private collection of the Biber family. The painting remained on deposit at the National Gallery of Art
, in Washington
between 1942 and 1946. In the following year, it was acquired by the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), with financial resources donated by Walter Moreira Salles
, founder of Unibanco
.
O lavrador de café http://ritualcafe.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/lavrador-de-cafe.jpg from the museum collection
. The whole action took about three minutes. The estimated value of the works was US$ 55 million, with the portrait alone valued at US$ 50 million.
The paintings, which are listed as Brazilian National Heritage by IPHAN,, remained missing until January 8, 2008, when they were recovered in Ferraz de Vasconcelos by the Police of São Paulo
. The paintings were returned, undamaged, to the São Paulo Museum of Art.
in Berlin
, in 1913; at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires
, in 1939; at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
in San Francisco, in 1940; at the famous exhibition From Cézanne to Picasso, in Los Angeles
(1941); at the exhibition A Nova Pintura Francesa, in Rio de Janeiro
(1949); at the Museu Picasso
in Barcelona
and at the Kunstmuseum in Berne
, both in 1992; and at the Picasso retrospective, at the Musée Picasso
, in Paris
, carried out in 1994.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
artist Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, executed in Paris in 1904, towards the end of his blue period. The subject, Suzanne Bloch, was a singer known for her Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
interpretations, and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch.
Suzanne Bloch
A luminary in the Parisian sets frequented by Picasso at the beginning of the 20th century, Suzanne Bloch was a Wagnerian singer and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch. She was introduced to the Spanish artist by the French poet Max JacobMax Jacob
Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.-Life and career:After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career...
, in 1904, and she sat for a portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
by Picasso in his studio at 13 rue Ravignan in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, between the late spring and early summer of that year. A pen and ink sketch
Sketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
heightened with gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
, and signed and dated by Picasso, preceded the oil painting; it is now conserved at the Neubury Coray collection, in Ascona
Ascona
Ascona is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore.The town is a popular tourist destination, and holds a yearly jazz festival, the Ascona Jazz Festival....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Picasso's Portrait
The portrait in oilsOil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
has been described by Luiz Marques, professor of art history at Unicamp, as exemplary of "the blue period, to which it fully belongs." It has been called the last important work of the blue period, although Palau i Fabre says that it is "difficult to date and determine the stage of transition from one period to the other—which in any case was not a sudden shift but a gently nuanced, though intermittent, progress". In a similar vein, Denys Chevalier has written: "Any attempt ... to date the blue period too precisely can only lead to errors".
The painting, fully imbued with a somber, melancholy aura, is rendered in monochromatic
Monochromatic color
Monochromatic colors are all the colors of a single hue. Monochromatic color schemes are derived from a single base hue, and extended using its shades, tones and tints Monochromatic colors are all the colors (tints, tones, and shades) of a single hue. Monochromatic color schemes are derived from a...
shades, varying from blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
to blue-green
Blue-green
Blue-green is a color that is a representation of the color that is between blue and green on a typical traditional old-fashioned RYB color wheel.Blue-green is belongs to the cyan family of colors....
, with the sporadic presence of warmer tones. Nevertheless, it is possible to notice that the painting already announces some characteristics of a future transition in the Spanish painter’s pictorial style, foreshadowing cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
. In the words of Camesasca, quoted by Marques: “[…] this portrait is marked by the emergence of a reflection about the plastic-chromatic structure of Cézanne’s works, in the scope of a 'post-impressionism, already absorbed in the problems which will make the art explode.”
Provenance
The painting belonged to Suzanne Bloch, and was sold by her heirs after her death. The Thannhauser GalleryThannhauser Galleries
The Thannhauser Galleries originated in Munich, in autumn 1909, when Heinrich Thannhauser decided to quit his former partner Franz Josef Brakl and installed his Modern Gallery at the Arco-Palais, Theatinerstrasse 7....
, Munich sold the painting ca. 1916 to Sally Falk, Mannheim, but his collection was already dispersed in 1919, under the supervision of the Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin, and Picasso's Lady without hat, blue portrait was acquired by Mechthild Princess Lichnowsky, who kept it at her private collection in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. From the English capital, the painting went to Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
, in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where it was held in the private collection of the Biber family. The painting remained on deposit at the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
between 1942 and 1946. In the following year, it was acquired by the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), with financial resources donated by Walter Moreira Salles
Walter Moreira Salles
Walter Moreira Salles was a highly successful Brazilian banker, politician and philanthropist who is considered by many as one of the premier founders of the modern Brazilian financial and banking industry....
, founder of Unibanco
Unibanco
Unibanco stands for União de Bancos Brasileiros . The bank was born in 1924 in Poços de Caldas in the state of Minas Gerais. In time its headquarters moved to São Paulo, Brazil's financial center...
.
Theft
On December 20, 2007 the painting was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art. Around five o’clock in the morning, three men invaded the museum and took away Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch and Portinari'sCândido Portinari
Candido Portinari was one of the most important Brazilian painters and also a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting....
O lavrador de café http://ritualcafe.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/lavrador-de-cafe.jpg from the museum collection
Collection (museum)
A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...
. The whole action took about three minutes. The estimated value of the works was US$ 55 million, with the portrait alone valued at US$ 50 million.
The paintings, which are listed as Brazilian National Heritage by IPHAN,, remained missing until January 8, 2008, when they were recovered in Ferraz de Vasconcelos by the Police of São Paulo
Polícia Militar do Estado de São Paulo
The Polícia Militar do Estado de São Paulo is a law enforcement agency of the military kind in the state of São Paulo, Brazil...
. The paintings were returned, undamaged, to the São Paulo Museum of Art.
Exhibitions
The painting was exhibited at the Thannhauser GalleryThannhauser Galleries
The Thannhauser Galleries originated in Munich, in autumn 1909, when Heinrich Thannhauser decided to quit his former partner Franz Josef Brakl and installed his Modern Gallery at the Arco-Palais, Theatinerstrasse 7....
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, in 1913; at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, in 1939; at the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
The M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...
in San Francisco, in 1940; at the famous exhibition From Cézanne to Picasso, in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(1941); at the exhibition A Nova Pintura Francesa, in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
(1949); at the Museu Picasso
Museu Picasso
The Museu Picasso in Barcelona, Spain, has one of the most extensive collections of artworks by the 20th century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. This is one of the most popular and most visited museums in Barcelona. The museum is housed in five adjoining medieval palaces in Barcelona's La Ribera.The...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and at the Kunstmuseum in Berne
Berne
The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...
, both in 1992; and at the Picasso retrospective, at the Musée Picasso
Musée Picasso
The Musée Picasso is an art gallery located in the Hôtel Salé in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris dedicated to the work of the artist Pablo Picasso .-Building:...
, in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, carried out in 1994.