With the barest scaffolding of lines and curves, Picasso evokes the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and chin of a man—not to mention the crown and brim of his hat. Columns of charcoal lines on the white paper ostensibly provide shading, yet refuse to define the volume of any object. The newspaper article concerns the Bulgarian general Georgi Todorov (1858–1934) and the Balkan Wars, one of the main political crises of the day, news of which appears in several Picasso collages from the fall of 1912. The hand-painted area of wood grain is an insider’s wink at Braque, who was the first to use mechanically printed, faux bois wallpaper in his collages.
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[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris; photo no. 290, dated winter 1912–13; sequestered Kahnweiler stock, December 12, 1914–23; fourth Kahnweiler sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 7–8, 1923, no. 94 (comprised of 32 works on paper), sold for Fr 1,400, to an unidentified bidder, possibly Tzara]; Tristan Tzara, Paris (by 1923–d. 1963); his son, Christophe Tzara, Sceaux, France (1963–88; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, November 20, 1988, no. 38, sold to International Art Center); [International Art Center, Geneva, 1988–2000; sold in May 2000 to Lauder]; Leonard A. Lauder, New York (2000–13; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–16; gift to MMA)
Paris. Musée des Arts Décoratifs. "Picasso: Peintures, 1900–1955," June 6–October 15, 1955, no. 34 (as winter 1912–13).
Munich. Haus der Kunst. "Picasso, 1900–1955," October 25–December 18, 1955, no. 32 (as winter 1912–13).
Cologne. Rheinisches Museum Köln-Deutz. "Picasso, 1900–1955," December 30, 1955–February 29, 1956, no. 32.
Hamburg. Kunsthalle-Altbau. "Picasso, 1900–1955," March 10–April 29, 1956, no. 32.
Paris. Grand Palais (peintures) and Petit Palais (dessins, sculptures, céramiques). "Hommage à Pablo Picasso," November 20, 1966 –February 28, 1967, no. 85 (as winter 1912–13).
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Exposition Picasso," October 15–December 4, 1977, no. 107 (as 1912–13).
Nagoya. Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. "Exposition Picasso," December 13–26, 1977, no. 107.
Cultural Center of Fukuoka. "Exposition Picasso," January 5–22, 1978, no. 107.
Kyoto. National Museum of Modern Art. "Exposition Picasso," January 28–March 5, 1978, no. 107.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," September 24, 1989–January 16, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 264).
Boston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Facets of Cubism," December 7, 2005–April 16, 2006, not in brochure.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso: Guitars, 1912–1914," February 13–June 6, 2011, no. 39.
Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art. "Shock of the News," September 23, 2012–January 27, 2013, no. 13.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 69.
Tristan Tzara. "Le papier collé ou le proverbe en peinture." Cahiers d'art 6 (1931), ill. p. 66, as 1913.
Guillaume Apollinaire. "Picasso et les papiers collés." Cahiers d’art 7 (1932), ill. p. 119.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 2b, Works from 1912 to 1917. Paris, 1942, unpaginated (list of plates), no. 365, pl. 176, as winter 1912.
Maurice Jardot. Picasso: Peintures, 1900–1955. Exh. cat., Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Paris, 1955, unpaginated, no. 34 (1st ed., no. 32).
Maurice Jardot. Picasso: 1900–1955. Exh. cat., Haus der Kunst München. Munich, 1955, unpaginated, no. 32, as winter 1912–13.
Guy Habasque. Cubism: Biographical and Critical Study. New York, 1959, pp. 55, 170, ill. p. 57, as 1912–13.
Hommage à Pablo Picasso. Exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 1966, unpaginated, no. 85, ill.
Franco Russoli and Fiorella Minervino. L'opera completa di Picasso cubista. Milan, 1972, p. 114, no. 542, ill. p. 113, as winter 1912–13.
Jean-Luc Daval. Journal de l'art moderne, 1884–1914: texte, notices explicatives, déroulement synoptique à travers le témoignage des contemporains. Geneva, 1973, ill. p. 258, as 1912–13.
Françoise Cachin and Fiorella Minervino. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Picasso, 1907–1916. Paris, 1977, p. 114, no. 542, ill. p. 113, as 1912–13.
Exposition Picasso: Japon, 1977–78. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Art Museum. Tokyo, 1977, unpaginated, no. 107, ill.
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet. Picasso, The Cubist Years, 1907–1916: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and Related Works. Boston, 1979, p.291, no. 535, ill., as autumn–winter 1912–13.
Isabelle Monod-Fontaine with E. A. Carmean Jr. Braque: The Papier Collés. Exh. cat., Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Washington, D.C., 1982, p. 94, fig. 69 (French ed., p. 80, ill.).
Pierre Daix inJuan Gris, 1887–1927. Ed. Gary Tinterow. Exh. cat., Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Madrid, 1985, p. 27, fig. 3, as 1921.
William Rubin, ed. Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1989, ill. p. 264 (German ed., 1990, fig. 308; French ed., 1990, and Spanish ed., 1991, ill. p. 258).
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: Cubism, 1907–1917. New York, 1990, p. 511, no. 875, ill. p. 308, as "Head of a Man with Hat," winter 1912–13.
Pepe Karmel. "Appendix 2: Notes on the Dating of Works." Picasso and Braque: A Symposium. Ed. Lynn Zelevansky. New York, 1992, p. 334.
Anne Umland. Picasso: Guitars, 1912–1914. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2011, pp. 65, 94, no. 39, ill. p. 64, pl. 39.
Janine Mileaf and Matthew Witkovsky in Judith Brodie. Shock of the News. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2012, p. 103.
Judith Brodie. Shock of the News. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2012, p. 24, ill. p. 25, pl. 13.
Judith Brodie. "All the News Fit to Print." Museum 92, no. 1 (January–February 2013), p. 29.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 46.
Anne Umland inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 100, 104, 309(2)n.43.
Eric Kandel inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 106, 112, no. 69, ill. p. 113 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 291–92, fig. 69 (on display in Tristan Tzara's office at rue de Lille, Paris, 1950s).
Alan Hyman, ed. The Picasso Project: Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, and Sculpture, A Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue, 1885–1973. Vol. 1909–1912, Analytic Cubism. San Francisco, 2015, pp. 304, 323, 332, no. 1912-324, ill. p. 304.
"The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection: A Conversation with Emily Braun and Pepe Karmel." IFAR Journal 16, no. 3 (2015), p. 43, fig. 18 (color).
Brigitte Leal. "Papiers collés." Dictionnaire du Cubisme. Ed. Brigitte Leal. Paris, 2018, p. 561.
Brigitte Leal. "Tzara, Samuel Rosenstock, 'dit' Tristan." Dictionnaire du Cubisme. Ed. Brigitte Leal. Paris, 2018, p. 768.
Newspaper fragment from Le Journal, December 2, 1912
Written on the verso (upper center, in pencil): 94 [Kahnweiler sequestration sale lot no.]; (upper-right corner, in blue pencil): 290 [Galerie Kahnweiler photo no.]
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
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