Pablo Picasso at La Californie, Cannes

1957, printed February 1985

Not on view

When Penn arrived at Picasso’s house in the south of France, the artist pretended not to be home. But after Penn’s assistant climbed over the locked gate, Picasso granted the photographer ten minutes. Covering his sweat-shirt with a Spanish cape, Picasso tried to playfully deflect him. Variants of this image show how Penn patiently worked the pose, allowing the artist his costume play while progressively boring in to isolate the riveting gaze of his left eye.

Artwork Details

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Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Pablo Picasso at La Californie, Cannes
Artist: Irving Penn (American, Plainfield, New Jersey 1917–2009 New York)
Date: 1957, printed February 1985
Medium: Platinum-palladium print
Dimensions: Image: 18 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (47.3 x 47.3 cm.)
Sheet: 24 15/16 x 22 in. (63.3 x 55.9 cm.)
Mount: 26 x 22 in. (66 x 55.9 cm.)
Overall: 26 x 22 in. (66 x 55.9 cm.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of The Irving Penn Foundation, 2021
Object Number: 2021.72.36
Rights and Reproduction: © The Irving Penn Foundation
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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