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Pablo Picasso

Lucien Clergue

Artwork Details

Pablo Picasso
1955; printed 2006
Lucien Clergue
gelatin silver print on paper
9 1/2 in x 13 7/8 in (24.13 cm x 35.24 cm);12 in x 16 in (30.48 cm x 40.64 cm)
Gift of Selma and Gerald Lotenberg
2011/2.163

Description

Subject Matter:


This work is a portrait of Pablo Picasso. Picasso and Clergue met when Clergue was 19. Picasso told Clergue to develop his work and contact him after two years. At age 21, Clergue showed Picasso his work from his series Les Saltimbanques, and Picasso and Clergue began a long friendship that would last until PIcasso’s death in 1973. Picasso supported and championed Clergue's work, introducing him to influential figures such as Jean Cocteau. In 1955, Picasso allowed Clergue to photograph him in his studio, a rare privilege he granted only to the most accomplished photographers.

Physical Description:

This portrait of a man shows him sitting on a set of steps, hands clasped between his knees. He wears a checkered shirt and long trousers.

EWP, 7/26/16: removed proper name, more appropriately addressed in SM

Usage Rights:

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