©Pablo Picasso - Les Courses a Auteuil 1901
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Les Courses a Auteuil 1901
47x62cm oil/canvas Private collection
Sotheby's - Lot Estimate 4,000,000 — 6,000,000 GBP
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes
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From Sotheby's:
Executed during Picasso’s second trip to Paris in 1901, Les Courses à Auteuil shows the young artist’s fascination with elegant and colourful figures that he encountered there. The dynamic and varied life of the metropolis, with its busy boulevards, nightclubs, cafés and public gardens, offered him a rich source of inspiration. Whilst the society outcasts, such as street beggars, blind musicians and absinthe drinkers had resonance with the young Picasso, whose talent was yet to be fully recognised and who still lived modestly, he was also attracted to the fashionably dressed beau monde and extravagant courtesans, such as the groups of ladies at the races, adorned in lavish costumes and hats, depicted in the present work. While it is possible that Picasso was introduced to members of the high society through his friends and supporters, and during the summer months attended the horse races at Auteuil and Longchamp, it is more likely that these subjects were largely derived from the artist’s imagination, fuelled by reports in the newspapers and magazines.