Still Life with Bottle and a Pot of Hyacinths

Pablo Picasso

1909 · Pastel on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

This large pastel drawing was probably intended as an independent work of art rather than a study preparatory to a painting. It is distinguished by its high level of finish and representational style. Picasso told a Swedish journalist in 1915 that German connoisseurs were partial to his more naturalistic work, and he may have made drawings like this to attract them. German dealers active in Paris, including Alfred Flechtheim, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Heinrich Thannhauser, and Wilhelm Uhde, were among his most important agents. This drawing was first shown in an influential exhibition in Munich in 1913. Two years later, the American photographer and art dealer Alfred Stiegltiz included the work in an exhibition at his New York gallery, 291. He acquired the picture for himself as a result of a default on a loan.

Artist

Pablo Picasso

Date

1909

Medium

Pastel on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949