The following
description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S. Fastov,
Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans &
Kenyon
Note 1): Legrand, a well-known and
highly regarded French artist, was almost certainly impressed with and
influenced by Picasso’s famous and much appreciated “Family of Saltimbanques”
(see below) to render his version of the same subject in a very different, yet,
highly impressive composition displaying the vigor and a quiet determination
and independence of the circus performers, who manifest a mood of
introspection, isolation and sad contemplation, as did Picasso’s version of
this subject, with forceful Impressionist
strokes and pastel coloring. It is Edy Legrand’s tour de force tribute to
Picasso and a bold, magnificent work of art.
“Pablo
Picasso
Family of Saltimbanques, 1905
Chester Dale Collection
U.S. National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.”
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The U.S. National Gallery of Art supplied the following text
regarding Picasso’s Family of Saltimbanques, 1905:
From
late 1904 to the beginning of 1906, Picasso's work centered on a single theme:
the saltimbanque, or itinerant circus performer. The theme of the circus
and the circus performer had a long tradition in art and in literature, and had
become especially prominent in French art of the late nineteenth century. A
more immediate inspiration for Picasso came from performances of the Cirque Médrano,
a circus that the artist attended frequently near his residence and studio in
Montmartre.
Circus
performers were regarded as social outsiders, poor but independent. As such,
they provided a telling symbol for the alienation of avant-garde artists such
as Picasso. Indeed, it has been suggested that the Family of Saltimbanques
serves as an autobiographical statement, a covert group portrait of Picasso and
his circle.
Picasso
reworked the Family of Saltimbanques several times, adding figures and
altering the composition. The figures occupy a desolate landscape and although
Picasso has knit them together in a carefully balanced composition, each figure
is psychologically isolated from the others, and from the viewer. In his rose,
or circus period, Picasso moved away from the extreme pathos of his earlier
blue period, but in the Family of Saltimbanques, the masterpiece of the
circus period, a mood of introspection and sad contemplation prevails.
Note
2) The foregoing considerations and the following auction records regarding Edy
Legrand sales warrant the conclusion that the presale estimate of
$25,000-$50,000 is reasonable and justifiable.
Title/Subject:
Women Gathering In A Patio Signed. Gouache on paper. 25.39 in. x 39.37
in. sold for $84,470 on 10/09/2012 at Sotheby’s, Paris, France
Title/Subject:
Le Départ Du Caïd Signed. Watercolor and gouache on paper.
25.98 in. x 35.37 in. sold for $72,030 on 06/05/2012 at Artcurial Briest Le Fur Poulain F. Tajan, Paris,
France
Title/Subject:
Danseuses De Flamenco Signed. Mixed Media 12.60 in. x 17.32 in. sold for
$48,018 on 2/11/2012 at Deburaux & Associés SVV, Paris, France
Title/Subject:
Le Mannequin Signed. Mixed Media 14.17 in. x 10.63 in. sold for $38,132 on
2/11/2012 at Compagnie Marocaine des Oeuvres & Objets d'Art, Casablanca Morroco
Title/Subject:
Cavaliers Berberes Signed. Gouache on board. 25.59 in. x 39.76 in. sold for
$35,878 on 6/19/2011 at Versailles Enchères Perrin-Royère-Lajeunesse, France
.
Title/Subject:
La Sortie Du Sultan Signed. Gouache on paper. 24.80 in. x 38.98 in. sold for
$99,360 on 03/30/2011 at Sotheby’s, Paris, France
Title/Subject: Le Départ De La Fantasia Signed. Gouache on paper. 24.80 in. x 39.37 in. sold for $73,550 on 12/01/2010
at House: Artcurial Briest Le Fur Poulain F. Tajan, Paris. France
Title/Subject:
Les Remparts D'Azemmour Signed. Mixed Media on paper. 19.69 in. x 25.59 in.
sold for $49,965 on 12/20/2008 at C.M.O.O.A (Compagnie Marocaine des Oeuvres et Objets d'Art),
Casablanca, Morocco
Title/Subject: Préparatifs Avant La Fantasia Signed and dated. Gouache on cardboard. 25.67 in. x 39.37 in. sold for
$136,480 on 12/17/2008 at Christie’s Paris
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Title/Subject: Hommes De Goulimine Signed. Gouache on paper. 25.59 in. x 39.37 in. sold for $191,570 on 12/06/2007
at Tajan, Paris, France
Title/Subject: Ahouache Signed.
Watercolor on paper. 25.20 in. x 35.83 in. sold for $102,880 on 06/04/2007
at Tajan, Paris, France