Pablo Picasso
Pipe et partition (Pipe and Sheet Music)

Pipe et partition (Pipe and Sheet Music)

© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Pipe et partition (Pipe and Sheet Music)
Pipe et partition (Pipe and Sheet Music)
ArtistSpanish, 1881–1973
CultureSpanish
Titles
  • Pipe et partition (Pipe and Sheet Music)
Date1914
PlaceFrance
MediumCollage of block-printed paper and gouache, graphite and chalk on paper
DimensionsSheet: 20 1/2 × 26 1/2 in. (52.1 × 67.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice McAshan, Jr.
Object number69.11
Not on view

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DescriptionAs Pablo Picasso continued to experiment with
new means of representation, he embraced
the cut-and-paste technique of collage in
1912, incorporating found materials in his
compositions to play against drawn and
painted illusions. This synthesis of techniques
later gave rise to the term Synthetic Cubism.
Here, he frames a still life within a trompe
l’oeil (fool-the-eye) frame made from printed
wallpaper, finished off with the artist’s signed
nameplate. The refrain of a popular song,
“Ma Jolie” (My Pretty), is delicately lettered
at the top of the sheet music, a nod to
Picasso’s mistress, Eva Gouel.
Provenance[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris]; Dr. Jean Dalsace, Paris, before 1942-after 1942; [Stendahl Gallery, Los Angeles], as of 1952; sold to Mr. and Mrs. S.M. McAshan, Jr., Houston, June 17, 1952-November 10, 1969; gift to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition HistoryArt Contemporain, Antwerp, 1926.

Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, 1932.

Contemporary Arts Association, Houston, 1955.

"Houston Collectors: A Selection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 22–May 12, 1968.

"One Hundred Master Drawings by Picasso," Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 20–April 5, 1981; Art Institute of Chicago, April 29–June 14, 1981; Philadelphia Museum of Art, July 11–August 23, 1981.

"In Our Time: Houston’s Contemporary Arts Museum, 1942–1982," Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, October 23, 1982–January 2, 1983.

"Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 20, 1989–January 16, 1990; Offentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel, February 25–June 18, 1990.

"Picasso and Things: The Still Lives of Picasso," Cleveland Museum of Art, February 26–April 26, 1992; Philadelphia Museum of Art, June 7–August 30, 1992; Musée Picasso, Paris, September 22–December 28, 1992.

"In Perfect Harmony: Picture and Frame," Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, March 31–July 2, 1995; Kunstforum Wien, Vienna, August 24–November 11, 1995.

"The Dark Mirror – Picasso: Photography and Painting," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 16, 1997–February 1, 1998.

"Modernism in a Century of Change III, From Object to Icon: The Art of Assemblage," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 21–August 30, 1998.

"Picasso and the Great War," Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, February 13–May 9, 2016; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, June 10–September 11, 2016.

"Cubism and the Trompe L'Oeil Tradition," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 17, 2022–January 22, 2023.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in rectangle at bottom center: "Picasso"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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