Reaching for Success: Picasso’s Rise in the Market (The First Two Decades)

Abstract

This article explores the exhibitions of Picasso’s works in the first two decades of his artistic career, as well as the dealers and collectors who came into contact with them. It describes the relationship between Picasso and his first dealers, Pere Manyach, Berthe Weill, Clovis Sagot, Père Soulier, Ambroise Vollard, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Georg Caspari, L. W. Guthier, Hans Goltz, Heinrich Thannhauser, Otto Feldmann, Alfred Flechtheim, Emil Richter, Gottfried Tanner, Michael Brenner, R. J. Coady, Léonce Rosenberg, Paul Rosenberg, etc.; as well as his first collectors, Leo and Gertrude Stein, Olivier Sainsère, Joachim Gasquet, Wilhelm Uhde, Herman Rupf, Vincenc Kramář, Frank Stoop, Hugo Perls, Edwin Suermondt, Dr. Paul Ferdinand Schmidt, Princess Mechtilde Lichnowsky, Henry Simms, Ludwig and Rosy Fischer, Professor Wilhelm Kreis, Adolf Erblösch, Justin K. Thannhauser, Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin, Ivan A. Morosov, etc. It also identifies all important Picasso expositions in this time period and how those dealers and collectors were involved in their arrangement. The information provided here has been excerpted from an exhaustive study of the critical literature on Pablo Picasso, as well as from published exhibition catalogues.

1. Introduction

Picasso’s first known public showing took place in August 1893, when he was included in a group exhibition at the Escuela de Bellas Artes1 in A Coruña featuring the works by selected students in the 1892–1893 class, among whom was Picasso, who had completed his first year of ‘Figure and Ornament Drawing’ at the school ([1], p. 463). Two years later, Picasso would have his first solo exhibition in a non-academic establishment. It took place in February 1895, when he showed two studies of heads in the shop windows of a furniture store owned by Joaquín Latorre at No. 20, Calle Real ([1], p. 468; [2], p. 55). In September of that same year, the family would leave A Coruña and relocate to Barcelona ([3], p. 49).2 Their first residence was an apartment at No. 4, Carrer Llauder, near the Escuela de Bellas Artes (La Llotja), where Don José had assumed his new post. Some months later they would move around the corner to the second floor of No. 3, Calle Cristina, again conveniently close to the art school ([6], p. 91).

Soon after their arrival, Picasso had applied to La Llotja and had easily passed the entrance exam, presumably completing it in one day. He was allowed to skip the early classes and take the entry examination for the Senior Course in Classical Art and Still Life. From the very start, he made friends with his classmate Manuel Pallarés Grau (1876–1974), a Catalan painter from Horta in the Ebro valley ([6], p. 91), among others. They would eventually share a small studio at No. 4, Carrer de la Plata, where Don José encouraged his son to work on a large academic canvas. The painting he would eventually complete would be known as La première communion ([7], OPP.95:004)3 and would be exhibited from April through 26 July at the ‘Exposición de Bellas Artes y Industrias Artísticas’ in Barcelona’s Palacio de Bellas Artes ([6], p. 91; [8], p. 211; [9], p. 72). Other paintings in the exhibit were by well-established painters such as Rusiñol, Ramón Casas (1866–1932), and Isidre Nonell (1872–1911) ([8], p. 211). In a review in Diario de Barcelona (25 May 1896), the critic Miquel i Badia commented that the painting was clearly ‘the work of a novice’, although in it ‘one perceives sensibility in the principal figures. Certain areas are painted with strength’ ([10], p. 101).

In 1897, Picasso’s father again pushed his son to work on a second academic work, Science et charité ([7], OPP.97:001), a large allegorical painting for which Don José also served as the model for the doctor. It would be exhibited at the ‘Exposición General de Bellas Artes’4 in Madrid, alongside paintings by the recognized portraitist Antonio Caba, director of the Escuela de Bellas Artes. The painting obtained an honorable mention [2]. Nonetheless, a Madrid critic would find a certain clumsiness and sentimentality in the composition: ‘I am sorry to laugh callously at such grief, but I cannot help it, for surely the doctor is feeling the pulse of a glove’ ([11], p. 21). Afterward Science et charité ([7], OPP.97:001) would also be exhibited at the ‘Exposición Provincial’ de Málaga, where it was awarded a gold medal.5 These reviews had a clear impact on the young artist, who moved out of No. 4, Carrer de la Plata and would not tell anyone the location of his new studio ([12], p. 22).

On 12 June, an establishment that would play a crucial role in promoting Picasso’s career opened its doors on No. 3, Carrer Montsió ([6], p. 92).6 Named Els Quatre Gats, after the famous Chat Noir in Paris, it would soon become a focal point of Pablo’s Barcelona life. The founder was Pere Romeu (1862–1908), but its moving spirits were the artists Ramón Casas (1866–1932), Isidre Nonell (1872–1911), Santiago Rusiñol (1861–1931), and Miquel Utrillo (1863–1934). The first exhibition at the Els Quatre Gats took place on 10 July 1897 and showed the work of these local artists. The artistic creed they followed was that of Modernism, being great admirers of Romantic figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Henrik Ibsen. In art, they were interested in the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Théophile Steinlen, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Edvard Munch. While Casas personally had studied in Paris in 1882, Rusiñol paid frequent visits to the French capital, mostly between 1887 and 1894, and Nonell spent time there in 1897 and 1900 ([13], pp. 87–88).

Following the directives of his father, Picasso left for Madrid in September of 1897 to study at the Real Academia de San Fernando ([6], p. 93; [10], p. 133). He completed the admission drawings in one day, thus equaling his remarkable performance in Barcelona ([6], p. 93). He registered for courses by cronies of Don José, including Moreno Carbonero (1860–1942) and Muñoz Degrain (1840–1924). Soon, however, he lost interest in his classes, preferring to sketch outside, at cafés, and in the Museo del Prado. While in Madrid, he probably read a newspaper note, which appeared in February 1898, calling for artists to participate in the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle ([10], p. 162) and would soon heed the call. His artistic ambition was somewhat curtailed as he was forced to return to Barcelona in May to convalesce from a serious illness.7 In order to fully recover, he even accepted Pallarés’ invitation to stay in his family’s home in the remote town of Horta d’Ebre (now Horta de Sant Joan) on the border of Catalonia and Aragon. They traveled there in June ([6], p. 93) and stayed until late January 1899, when Picasso returned to Barcelona ([3], p. 56; [6], p. 93; [9], p. 31).8 He gave up any intention of continuing his formal studies in Madrid and embarked instead on a career as a graphic artist, earning some money through drawing contributions for journals and books. He would still participate in the ‘Exposición General de Bellas Artes’ in Madrid from 8 May to 10 June 1899 with a work representing his experience in the countryside, titled Coutumes Aragonese or Dans la cour d’une maison aragonaise. It would be awarded an honorable mention ([6], p. 94).

In the summer, Picasso took his friend Carles Casagemas (1880–1901) to Málaga ([9], p. 32), where the former exhibited three paintings at the ‘Exposición Regional de Bellas Artes’ organized by the Liceo Arts Club: Coutumes Aragonese (which he probably retrieved in Madrid on his way to Málaga), Derniers rites (or Les derniers moments), and an unidentified portrait (possibly the Portrait of Josep Cardona) ([2], p. 126; [6], pp. 94–95). In January 1900, he and Casagemas agreed to share a studio at No. 17, Riera de Sant Joan, not too far from where Picasso’s parents lived ([6], p. 95). Picasso worked intensively throughout the winter to finish many portraits of his friends (between 50 and 150) for the purpose of exhibiting them at Els Quatre Gats in February ([6], p. 95).9 At this show, he also exhibited three paintings, including Les derniers moments ([7], OPP.00:317), which he had first shown in the Summer of 1899 in Málaga. The show at Els Quatre Gats was Picasso’s first full exhibition. About Les derniers moments, Manuel Rodríguez Codolà wrote in La Vanguardia (3 February):

The only painting which Ruiz Picazzo [sic] has in the IV Gats portrays a young priest standing with a prayer book in his hand, looking at a woman on her deathbed. The light of a lamp radiates weakly and is reflected in patches on the white bedspread over the dying woman. The rest of the canvas is in shadow, which dissolves the figures into indecisive silhouettes. There are qualities in this work, painted with a natural ease that we appreciate; qualities that we hope will reach maturity the day when Señor Ruiz Picazzo [sic] frees himself of prejudice and brings his work richer experience and study than he shows today, when he reaches the age when one dares all and produces typically personal works.

([16], p. 68)10

Reporting on the same show, Sebastià Trullol i Plana in Diario de Barcelona (7 February) suggested that the influence of Barcelona modernisme detracted from Picasso’s work:

Currently on exhibition in the salon of Los Quatre Gats are several drawings and color sketches by D. R. Picassó [sic], a youth who enters into [the world of] art with the obsession of the most extreme modernismo. One cannot deny that Señor Picassó has talent and feeling for art; he proves this in three oils which appear in the exhibition, in which he demonstrates intuition and knowledge of the expressive potential of color; but in contrast to this, the exhibition reveals in the painter, as in many others who have preceded him and are madly in love with the modernista school, a lamentable confusion of artistic sensibility and a mistaken concept of art...In the collection of pencil portraits, which forms part of the exhibition, several stand out for the confidence of drawing, but it is only necessary to glance at them as a whole to recognize that this is a gallery of melancholy, taciturn, and bored characters that produces in the spectator an impression of sadness and compassion for their unsympathetic portrayal’.

[17]11

On 24 February, La Vanguardia finally published a list of artists whose work had been selected for the Paris ‘Exposition Universelle’, which would open on April 14.12 Les derniers moments was one of the works chosen, and Picasso made plans to go to Paris to see his work hanging in one of the two hundred pavilions from different countries lining the Seine. Before his departure, a second exhibition at Els Quatre Gats showed four of his ‘bullfight’ pastels in July ([6], p. 96). One of them was bought by the Basque painter Ignacio Zuloaga.

By the end of September, Picasso had taken off for France in the company of Casagemas ([3], p. 60; [6], p. 96; [9], p. 33).13 Pallarés would join them in late October. Nonell introduced Pablo to the dealer Pere Manyach (b. 1870) (a. k. a Mañac or Manyac) in mid November ([9], p. 178). He would soon sign a contract with him, agreeing to receive 150 French Franks (FRF) per month for his work in exchange for his representation. Manyach was involved in supplying works to several dealers, including Berthe Weill, who would open her own gallery in December 1901 ([18], p. 26). In addition to taking three of Picasso’s bullfight pastels for 100 FRF, which she would immediately resell for 150 FRF, she arranged the sale of a painting to Sainsère. Picasso later recalled that Sainsère, a conseiller d’Etat, also provided a measure of protection against the police, which systematically suspected all young Spaniards of anarchism ([19], p. 159). At Manyach’s urging, the Spanish consul Emmanuel Virenque also bought La danseuse bleue directly out of the artist’s studio ([20], p. 20). Thus, by the time Picasso returned to Barcelona with Casagemas on 23–24 December, he felt that his visit to Paris had been a tremendous success [2].14

2. First Exhibitions in Paris

The year 1901 saw a significant increase in interest regarding Picasso’s work. By February, he had relocated once again to Madrid ([9], p. 198).15 In February, news arrived that his friend Casagemas, who had returned to Paris on his own, had committed suicide, influencing Picasso’s decision in the Spring to start preparations for a return to Paris. The excuse was an exhibition, which had been arranged by Manyach for June at Ambroise Vollard’s gallery. Before his return to the French capital, he participated with Ramón Casas in a joint exhibition arranged by Miquel Utrillo at Sala Parés, Barcelona in April ([6], p. 99). The Sala Parés would organize another exhibition dedicated to Picasso’s pastels the following month; while in Madrid, his oil Femme en bleu ([7], OPP.01:030) was also shown at the ‘Exposición General de Bellas Artes’ ([6], p. 99).

By mid May, Picasso traveled back to Paris, this time with his friend Jaume Andreu Bonsons ([2], p. 193). He moved with Manyach into Casagemas’ studio at No. 130ter, Boulevard de Clichy,16 a few meters from the café where his friend had killed himself ([6], p. 99; [14], p. 16; [21], p. 100). On 17 June, an article by Gustave Coquiot (1865–1926) in Le Journal announced the impending exhibition at Vollard’s on No. 6, rue Laffite ([22], p. 361). The show formally opened on 24 June and featured works by Picasso and the Basque painter Francisco Iturrino (1864–1924) ([5], p. 324; [6], p. 100; [14], p. 16).17 This was Picasso’s first significant exhibition, containing some 64 paintings, pastels, and watercolors, as well as a number of drawings, many of which were executed in only three weeks. Gustave Coquiot was enlisted to write a preface for the catalogue. Later he recalled that

the canvases [at the Vollard show] were not presented as they usually are today, with plenty of space and in a single line, but on top of one another almost to the ceiling and unframed, while some were not even on stretchers but in large folders, at the mercy of any collector or visitor.

([23], p. 257)

Despite Vollard’s assertion that the show was unsuccessful, fifteen works (more than half of those shown) were sold even before the exhibition had even opened ([24], p. 29). A few of the buyers have been identified; L. Besnard, Monsieur Ackermann, Eugène Blot, and Käthe Kollwitz ([10], pp. 247–57; [20], p. 16). Pere Coll reviewed the show for the Barcelona journal La Veu de Catalunya (10 July):

Picasso is very young...and at his age I doubt if there are many who have done what he has. He has very great qualities but also great defects. The portraits of his companion Iturrino and one of another friend, Manyach, and a self-portrait are done with great courage and great confidence, indicating the genius of the painter’.

[25]

Félicien Fagus (nom de plume of the poet Georges Faillet (1872–1933)) also reviewed the show in La Revue blanche (15 July): ‘[Picasso] is the painter, utterly and beautifully the painter; he has the power of divining the essence of things...Like all pure painters he adores color for its own sake...He is enamored of all subjects, and every subject is his’ [26]. Fagus traces not only Picasso’s Spanish ancestry but also his French antecedents and concludes:

Each influence is transitory...One sees that Picasso’s haste has not yet given him time to forge a personal style; his personality is in this haste, this youthful impetuous spontaneity (I understand he is not yet twenty, and covers as many as three canvases a day)...The danger lies in this very impetuosity, which could easily lead to facile virtuosity and easy success...That would be profoundly regrettable since we are in the presence of such brilliant virility.

[26]

Problems with Manyach soon arose. By the end of January 1902, Picasso had already broken his contract and moved out of the apartment they shared. After receiving funds from home, he took the train back to Barcelona ([5], p. 324),18 sharing a studio with Angel Fernández de Soto (1882–1938) and another aspiring artist, Josep Rocarol (1882–1961), at No. 6 (or 10), Carrer Nou de la Rambla (today Calle Conde del Asalto). Even in Picasso’s absence, Manyach continued to promote his work and arranged a joint exhibition with the artist Louis Bernard-Lemaire at Galerie Berthe Weill during the first two weeks of April ([5], p. 324; [6], p. 101; [22], p. 362). It showed La chambre bleue (Le tub) ([7], OPP.01:027), Courtisane au collier de gemmes (L’hétaïre) ([7], OPP.01:032), Le quatorze juillet ([7], OPP.01:070), Le clown au singe ([7], OPP.01:111), Enfant assis dans un fauteuil ([7], OPP.01:165), Enfants dans le Jardin du Luxembourg ([7], OPP.01:225), and Pierrot ([7], OPP.01:226).19 The dealer also arranged for Picasso’s participation in another group exhibition along with Matisse, Villon, Marquet, and Maillol at the Galerie Berthe Weill during the first two weeks of June. This recapitulaton of six previous exhibitions, as Berthe Weill called it, was a mixture of drawings, watercolors, and paintings and may have been the first occasion in which Matisse and Picasso were exhibited together. Picasso, cloistered in Barcelona since the previous winter, did not get to see this exhibition. He would not return to Paris until the end of October ([22], p. 362). In response to Weill’s show, an article in La Revue blanche (1 February) by Félicien Fagus discussed the work of Picasso and other Spanish artists in Paris (most of whom were represented by Manyach).

On 19 October, Picasso finally left Barcelona for Paris with his friends Josep Rocarol and Julio González ([6], p. 101).20 His departure was reported in the Barcelona newspaper El Liberal (20 October): ‘The celebrated artist, Pablo Ruiz Picasso, left for Paris on yesterday’s express’ ([8], p. 212; [27], p. 36). From November 15 through December 15, Manyach had again arranged an exhibition, ‘Peintures, pastels et dessins de MM. Girieud, Launay, Picasso et Pichot’, at Galerie Berthe Weill ([4], p. 397; [6], p. 102; [22], p. 362; [28], p. 322). Several blue canvases were shown, among them Dans un cabaret ([7], OPP.02:013) and La maison bleue ([7], OPP.02:095). The catalogue for the exhibition included an essay by Thilda Harlor (nom de plume, Jeanne-Fernande Perrot) in which she emphasized the freedom and indefatigable approach reflected in Picasso’s work. Another favorable article appeared in an article in Mercure de France (December) by the Symbolist poet Charles Morice: ‘What drawing!...What composition!...As disturbing and provocative as one of the Fleurs du mal’. Morice spoke of

this very young man’s work [with] a body of work that is already beyond counting. Picasso, who was painting before he learned to read, seems to have been given the mission of expressing everything that exists, and of expressing it with his brush. It might be said that he is a young god who wants to refashion the world.

([21], p. 115)

Around mid January 1903, Picasso decided to return to Barcelona after receiving 200 FRF for the fare from Madame Besnard, one of his first buyers, in exchange for Les adieux du pêcheur ([7], OPP.02:010) or Mère et enfant au bord de la mer (À Dr. Josep Fontbona) ([7], OPP.02:011).21 He moved again into the studio he had shared with Casagemas at No. 17, Riera de Sant Joan, splitting it now with Angel Fernández de Soto. An article in El Liberal (7 March) referenced an exhibition of his works in the Catalan city: ‘The head which he (P. P.) is now exhibiting is not only attractive because of the impulsive force one can divine in this pastel; it is also captivating in the tenderness and spontaneity to be observed in the form’ [29]. El Liberal (4 June) also reported the sale of La vie ([7], OPP.03:001) ‘for a respectable price, to the Parisian collector M. Jean Saint-Gaudens’ [30].

On 11–12 April, El Liberal reported that ‘The artists Messrs. Sebastià Junyer-Vidal and Pablo Ruiz Picasso are leaving on today’s express for Paris, where they propose to hold an exhibition [never realized] of their latest works’ ([27], p. 38). Their journey was recorded by Picasso in traditional Catalan comic-strip form as an ‘alleluia’ ([8], p. 212). The trip actually took place on 13 April ([10], p. 371).22 They stayed for a short time with the González brothers in Montparnasse before taking over Paco Durrio’s (1868–1940) studio at No. 13, rue Ravignan (now Place Emile Goudeau) in mid June ([8], p. 213).23 The building where he moved (perched on a hill in Montmartre) was named Bateau-Lavoir by poet Max Jacob because of its resemblance to a Seine washing barge and because the floorboards in the old ramshackle hallways creaked like a boat ([8], p. 213; [21], pp. 132–33).

2.1. André Level and Other Major Early Collectors

Starting on 24 October and continuing through 20 November, Picasso had his last showing at Galerie Berthe Weill, ‘Exposition de Mm. Charbonnier, Clary-Baroux, Raoul Dufy, Girieud, Picabia, Picasso, Thiesson’, featuring watercolors, pastels and drawings ([6], p. 104; [22], p. 362). About a dozen of the works included had been produced during the previous three years; La fin du numéro ([7], OPP.00:026), Dans la rue ([7], OPP.00:068), Les amants dans la rue ([7], OPP.00:131), Marchande des fleurs dans la rue ([7], OPP.01:016), Evocation (L’enterrement de Carles Casagemas) ([7], OPP.01:046), and Femmes et enfant (Intimité) ([7], OPP.02:096). Maurice Le Sieutre wrote the catalogue preface:

[Picasso] is a good image maker. A fine enameler, if one may express it that way. In his pastels, one finds sharp tones...left intentionally as a result of chemical oxidation. Their line is elegant, outlining the splashes of pinks and particularly blues that represent flowers, draperies, dresses, [and] the shawls of lively Spanish women.

([19], p. 238)

The last of the works listed, Femmes et enfant (Intimité) ([7], OPP.02:096), was purchased by André Level for La Peau de l’Ours, an art investment group he had established in February 1904 ([20], p. 71). This enterprise would prove of crucial importance to Picasso’s status in the art market ([18], p. 271). The following year, Level would purchase six additional paintings and watercolors from Picasso’s early period from Berthe Weill and Père Soulié: ‘The half-dozen works on cardboard, canvas and watercolors strained our meager budget’ ([20], p. 71).

2.2. Wilhelm Uhde and the Steins

In 1905, a new Picasso collector would also arrive in Paris, Wilhelm Uhde (1874–1947). He had started studying law in Dresden before switching to art history and relocating to Munich and Florence. After his move to Paris, he progressively became one of Picasso’s top enthusiasts. However, despite sporadic sales, Picasso was still under financial stress. He wrote to Cinto Reventós in Barcelona on 22 February:

It’s such a terrible waste of time, scrounging the last peseta to pay for the studio or a restaurant...I am forced to deal...because of interest and the need to have something to eat, but ought not to have to waste so much time...It teaches you a stupid but important lesson anyone learns in business in Barcelona: grab what you can...Anyway, I continue working and in a few days I’m going to have a small exhibition...[Charles Morice] is in charge...He always does well by whatever he has his sticky fingers in...We’ll see what comes of it...God willing, people will like it and I’ll sell everything I’m showing.

([8], p. 51; [12], p. 45)

From 25 February through 6 March, he joined Albert Trachsel and Auguste Gérardin in the exhibition sponsored by the critic Morice at the Galeries Serrurier on 37, boulevard Haussmann. ([5], p. 324; [6], p. 104). The catalogue (the introduction for which Morice also wrote) listed 30 paintings and gouaches plus three engravings and an album of drawings ([2], p. 355; [14], p. 17).24 Among the artworks exhibited were; Femme à la corneille (Marguerite Luc) (Margot) ([7], OPP.04:005), Le Christ de Montmartre (Le suicidé) ([7], OPP.04:086), Le saltimbanque ([7], OPP.04:036), one of his first ‘Rose Period’ works, and probably Famille d’acrobates avec singe ([7], OPP.05:003).25 Eight of them represented ‘Saltimbanques’, making it the first exhibition on the ‘Circus’ theme. Although his work was discussed in the press, the Spaniard probably sold little. According to the American collector Leo Stein (1872–1947), he discovered Picasso at an exhibition recommended to him by Clovis Sagot, which must have been this one, the only one occurring early in the year. His sister, Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), described the venue as ‘a little furniture store where there were some paintings being shown by Picasso’. Although Serrurier’s premises could hardly have been considered a ‘little store’, they were definitely devoted to ‘furnishings and artistic decoration’ ([22], p. 362). Having made an offer for a painting from the establishment, which remained unanswered, Leo would eventually acquire Famille d’acrobates avec singe ([7], OPP.05:003) from Sagot before the summer ([22], p. 362). By 8 March, Henri-Pierre Roché (1879–1959) wrote Picasso to set up a proper introduction: ‘I shall bring the American of whom I spoke to see you at your house tomorrow, Wednesday morning, at 10.00 a.m’ ([22], p. 362). The actual meeting probably took place at the Bateau-Lavoir in late spring ([22], p. 362).

In November Leo would discover another Picasso at Clovis Sagot’s, Jeune fille à la corbeille de fleurs ([7], OPP.05:030). Although his sister Gertrude did not approve of the selection, they would eventually agree to purchase it ([14], p. 18; [32], p. 340; [33], p. 105). In Leo’s words, ‘I dropped in at [the dealer] Sagot to talk about Picasso; he had a picture by him, which I bought. The ape looked at the child so lovingly that Sagot was sure this scene was derived from life, but I knew more about apes than Sagot did and was sure that no such baboon-like creature belonged in such a scene. Picasso told me later that the ape was his invention, and it was a proof that he was more talented as a painter than as a naturalist’ ([34], p. 169). Sagot would go on to also sell them Famille d’acrobates avec singe ([7], OPP.05:003). The Steins had set up residence in Paris and, with their inheritance, were putting together an extraordinary art collection. In a probable second visit to the Bateau-Lavoir, Leo purchased several more paintings by Picasso for a total of 900 FRF. Pablo would also become a frequent visitor at the Steins’ salons. Some months later he agreed to make portraits of Leo and his brother, Michael’s son, Allan. At approximately this time, Gertrude also voluntarily sat for 80 to 90 sessions while he worked on Portrait de Gertrude Stein ([7], OPP.06:027). She would become a close friend and patron, encouraging a number of her American friends, including Etta Cone (1870–1949) and Claribel Cone (1864–1929) of Baltimore to buy drawings and paintings by Picasso: ‘Etta Cone found the Picassos appalling but romantic. She was taken there by Gertrude whenever the Picasso finances got beyond everybody and was made to buy 100 FRF worth of drawings’ ([35], p. 52).

André Level’s organization La Peau de l’Ours continued to set the pace in 1906. The largest portion of their budget for that year was spent on the work of a single artist, Pablo Picasso. Picking through Berthe Weill’s stock, and with Clovis Sagot as his agent, Level purchased six paintings and watercolors for the collection. The works were primarily confined to the early 1900s, among them La maison bleue ([7], OPP.02:095).26 Ambroise Vollard, for his part, had shown interest in Picasso’s Rose Period. In March be bought the bulk of his output from that time. The purchase was finalized on 6 May, when he paid a total of 2000 Gold Franks (GDF) for 20 canvases ([14], p. 18; [33], p. 105).27 This would provide the artist with the necessary measure of financial security to return to Spain through August ([6], p. 105; [36], p. 83).

The following year, Level entered negotiations with Picasso for the purchase of La famille de saltimbanques (Les bateleurs) ([7], OPP.05:002). To cut off other potential buyers, he made an offer of 1000 FRF through Lucien Moline. Hoping for a higher price, Picasso did not initially take it, but he would eventually be forced to accept from them a partial loan of 300 FRF to relieve his financial distress ([18], p. 31). In February, Pablo sent Gertrude Stein happier news; Vollard had agreed to buy out his studio for 2500 FRF, the balance to be paid in six months: ‘Vollard came this morning. The deal is settled’ ([32], p. 342; [37], p. 334; [38], p. 17). By mid February, the dealer had given him a down-payment of 1400 FRF for a batch of canvases and drawings ([33], p. 110).28 However, there was also a certain amount of negativity about the transaction. According his friends, the artist found bargaining exhausting, but, much more that that, he also hated parting with his pictures ([21], pp. 143–44; [39], p. 81). By mid September, Vollard had retrieved eleven paintings and given him a check for the remaining 1100 FRF ([33], p. 110; [38], p. 48).

2.3. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler

A new dealer, the German Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, entered the scene in late February. He had rented space for a small gallery at No. 28, rue Vignon in Paris. His gallery opened on 11 July ([38], p. 34). At first, he showed the Fauves Derain and Vlaminck, van Dongen and Braque ([20], p. 27).29 Soon after the opening, Picasso went to check the premises, even returning a second time accompanied by Vollard ([38], p. 36). Wilhelm Uhde, who was one of Kahnweiler’s acquaintances, had told him that he had seen in Picasso’s studio in March an astonishing large painting still in progress. Impelled by these comments, Kahnweiler went to see for himself the canvas in question, Les demoiselles d’Avignon ([7], OPP.07:001), at the Bateau-Lavoir in early-August, and was immediately enthralled ([38], p. 59; [40], p. 149).

In the spring of 1908, Kahnweiler visited Picasso again with the Swiss collector Herman Rupf, who bought Feuillage (Arbres) ([7], OPP.07:109) on that occasion. Later in the year, he would purchase two additional works: Tête d’homme ([7], OPP.08:251) and Paysage (La rue des bois) ([7], OPP.08:114). Along with the Frenchman Roger Dutilleul (1873–1956), the Russians Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin (1854–1936) ([37], p. 339; [38], p. 159) and Ivan A. Morosov (1871–1921), the Czech Dr. Vincenc Kramář, and the Americans Leo and Gertrude Stein, Rupf became part of a circle of reliable customers at Galerie Kahnweiler ([20], pp. 85–86). One of the first Picassos exhibited at the gallery was Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:048), which he would soon sell to Lotte and Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. During this same time, the German Alfred Flechtheim, initiated his career as a Parisian dealer, becoming well acquainted with the colony of his compatriots who frequented the Café du Dôme on Boulevard Montparnasse. Through Uhde, Flechtheim also met Kahnweiler, and, in just a few years, he would come to acquire a large number of works by the Cubists. In addition to these collectors, mention must be made of André Level’s dealings in his function as director of La Peau de l’Ours. Early in 1907, he had agreed to buy La famille de saltimbanques (Les bateleurs) ([7], OPP.05:002) for his association for 1000 FRF.30

With these funds and an additional 2200 FRF he had received from Vollard in early-May, Picasso traveled to Horta d’Ebre in June, living a life of near luxury ([33], p. 111).31 In a telling anecdote, a grocery store owner in Horta d’Ebre refused to change a bill from Picasso’s mistress Fernande Olivier for one thousand pesetas into smaller currency. The shopkeepers were astonished to see such a large bill. The kids ran all over town trying to find someone who could offer change but to no avail. By early September they traveled to Barcelona, staying at the fancy Grand Hôtel de l’Orient ([38], p. 137). Once back in Paris ([22], p. 365; [27], p. 58; [32], p. 363; [37], p. 338) in mid September, they left the Bateau-Lavoir and moved to better quarters at No. 11, boulevard de Clichy, near Place Pigalle ([32], p. 363).32 This new apartment was on the top floor with a good view of Sacré-Cœur ([38], p. 145). In 1946, Maurice Raynal described the move: ‘What a change it was! It was Picasso’s first ‘bourgeois’ residence in Paris. A studio with a north light, large and airy; and a sunny apartment, with a southern exposure, looking out on the trees of avenue Frochot’ ([40], p. 158; [41], p. 199).

2.4. Kahnweiler’s International Market Strategies

By 1910, Kahnweiler’s inventory of works by Picasso had reached 60 canvases ([18], p. 34). In order to promote his artists abroad, primarily in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, he established contacts with dealers such as Georg Caspari, Hans Goltz and Heinrich Thannhauser (Munich), Otto Feldmann (Cologne, later Berlin), Alfred Flechtheim (Düsseldorf), Emil Richter (Dresden), Galerie Miethke (Vienna), and Gottfried Tanner (Zürich), as well as in Britain and the United States at the Grafton Galleries (London) and Washington Square Gallery (New York), whose agents, Michael Brenner and R. J. Coady, would become his exclusive representatives in America ([20], p. 32). In May, an article written by Frank Gelett Burgess in 1908, ‘The Wild Men of Paris’ [42], appeared in the American journal The Architectural Record with a photograph of Les demoiselles d’Avignon ([7], OPP.07:001). This is the first time the painting had been reproduced. Other works illustrated were La dryade (Nu dans une forêt) ([7], OPP.08:001), Femme nue assise ([7], OPP.08:112), and Trois femmes ([7], OPP.08:009).33 Around this time, Picasso also participated in a group exhibition at Uhde’s Galerie Notre-Dame-des-Champs ([18], p. 33; [20], p. 33; [22], p. 365; [38], p. 162) with paintings dating from 1908–1909, among them the oil Pressoir d’olive à Horta de Sant Joan (L’usine) ([7], OPP.09:028). The critic Léon Werth observed in La Phalange (10 June):

These pictures borrow nothing from geometry, and if their sources of inspiration are diverse Mr. Picasso should not be reproached for that. Like all artists at their beginnings, he has sometimes, in seeking for himself, found others. These pleasing and ingenious works lead Mr. Picasso finally to this fruit dish and glass, which display their structure, substructure, and superstructure, and whose harmony, simplified as it is, is made up of the yellows and greens of certain Cézannes; and to this landscape of cubic roofs, cubic chimneys, and trees that are like the chimneys but decorated at the top with palms.

[43]

The latter comment refers to Pressoir d’olive à Horta de Sant Joan (L’usine) ([7], OPP.09:028) which had been purchased by Haviland the preceding October and was later bought by Shchukin ([22], p. 365; [32], p. 365; [37], p. 338).

Towards the end of June, Picasso left for Cadaqués for a period of two months ([38], p. 153; [44], p. 86).34 After his return to Paris, Kahnweiler bought one of the paintings he had brought back with him while Vollard purchased the rest, paying 950 FRF for nine paintings and advancing 1000 FRF on future work ([33], p. 111). During the first two weeks of September, Picasso and Braque were exhibited together in the ‘II. Ausstellung. Turnus, 1910–1911’ at Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser (Moderne Galerie), Munich. Kahnweiler lent three works by Picasso, Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:048), a Nature morte, and a pastel, and four works by Braque ([20], p. 33; [32], p. 368). ‘These shows familiarized experts with their work but were largely ignored by the broader public... Now Picasso stood center-stage, vilified and acclaimed as the innovator par excellence’ ([46], p. 206). Despite the general rejection of Cubism, Picasso continued to attract buyers. On 20 October, the Czech collector Vincenc Kramář came for the first time to Paris and acquired Tête ([7], OPP.06:375) and L’étreinte ([7], OPP.06:067) from Clovis Sagot.35 Starting on 20 December and continuing through 11 February 1911, a Picasso retrospective was organized at Galerie Vollard ([20], p. 33; [22], p. 365; [32], p. 371; [38], p. 172), featuring the Cubist sculpture Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:017). This exhibition would be his last in Paris until he agreed to a public showing during the Salon d’Antin in 1916 ([37], p. 340). Apollinaire alerted readers of L’lntransigeant (21 December) to the importance of this exhibition. It contained older works ‘of great artistic value’ plus ‘a very fine set’ of works hung without frames but whose ‘major importance’ was increased by the fact that Picasso did not regularly exhibit in any of the salons ([37], p. 340). André Salmon also commented in Paris-Journal (22 December): ‘I recall the intense impression I had on first seeing these painful, powerful works’ ([32], p. 371; [37], p. 340).

In 1911, La Peau de l’Ours, through Level’s leadership, acquired two more works, Arlequin à cheval ([7], OPP.05:033) and Les trois Hollandaises ([7], OPP.05:026).36 This same year, the Museumsverein Elberfeld purchased Acrobate et jeune arlequin ([7], OPP.05:214), presenting it to the Städtisches Museum (later Städtische Galerie Wuppertal-Elberfeld). This was the first time Picasso’s work had been featured in a museum ([20], p. 34). Around this time, another dealer, Léonce Rosenberg, became a noted champion of Cubism, a lead his brother Paul Rosenberg would soon follow. Working initially with his brother-in-law Kahnweiler, Paul, along with his partner Georges Wildenstein, would establish and then win over from Léonce exclusive relationships not only with Picasso (from 1918 on) but also with Braque (from 1922), Marie Laurencin and Fernand Léger (from 1927), and Matisse (from 1936).

Through Kahnweiler’s efforts in the 1910s, Picasso had grown in international recognition, evidenced by his inclusion in the collective exhibition ‘XIII. Jahrgang, VI. Ausstellung’ (January–February) at Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin, with two works, one of which was Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:048). Also in the Spring, he was featured in the XXII. Ausstellung der Berliner Secession, represented by La coiffure ([7], OPP.06:015) and three other works ([20], p. 34). Further, from 28 March through 25 April, 49 drawings and watercolors from 1905–1910 plus 34 additional drawings available to viewers on request appeared at Stieglitz’s 291, Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in New York ([22], p. 365; [32], p. 372).37 This was Picasso’s first American exhibition. The selections, which ranged from Paysanne au châle ([7], OPP.06:281) to Tête de femme (Fernande) (Étude) ([7], OPP.09:099) and Femme nue debout ([7], OPP.10:014), were made by Marius de Zayas, Eduard J. Steichen, Frank Burty Haviland, and the sculptor Manolo Hugué. Alfred Stieglitz, the owner of the gallery, would acquire Femme nue debout ([7], OPP.10:014) from the show. In his memoirs, Steichen mentioned that ‘Gertrude Stein was instrumental in softening Picasso for us’ ([37], p. 341), getting him to agree to showing at the Photo-Secession in New York. Stieglitz advertised this as Picasso’s ‘First one-man show anywhere’, although he had in fact already had two such exhibitions in Paris in 1910. An English translation of Marius de Zayas’s interview with Picasso was also published in Camera Work of April–July 1911 ([37], p. 339).

2.5. Vincenc Kramář

Towards the end of April, Vincenc Kramář traveled again to Paris ([40], p. 160) and went on a buying spree, purchasing Femme couchée ([7], OPP.04:042), Femme debout ([7], OPP.06:065), and Femme nue ([7], OPP.06:066) from Clovis Sagot; Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:017) from Vollard for 600 FRF; Buste d’arlequin ([7], OPP.09:059) at Hôtel Drouot for 275 FRF ([20], p. 30); Le port de Cadaqués ([7], OPP.10:008) for 800 FRF and Torse de femme ([7], OPP.08:110) for 1000 FRF, both from Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler ([20], pp. 30–31; [38], p. 308). At the end of November, Kramář visited Paris again and brought from Kahnweiler Coffret, tasse, pommes et verre ([7], OPP.09:195) (700 FRF), Mandoline et verre de Pernod ([7], OPP.11:069) (700 FRF), Femme à la guitare près d’un piano ([7], OPP.11:007) (900 FRF), La clarinette ([7], OPP.11:009) (900 FRF), Guitariste (La mandoliniste) ([7], OPP.11:119) (900 FRF), Pomme ([7], OPP.08:293), Petit moulin à café et pipe sur une table ([7], OPP.09:104), and Femme nue ([7], OPP.10:072) and, from Vollard, the artworks Autoportrait à la mèche ([7], OPP.07:002) (400 FRF), Buste de femme ([7], OPP.10:134) (550 FRF), and Femme assise dans un fauteuil ([7], OPP.09:016) (900 FRF).38 On 23 April, the show ‘26 Drawings by Picasso’ opened at Stafford Gallery, London; Picasso’s first solo exhibition in the British capital. The 26 exhibited drawings included Le meneur de cheval nu: jeune homme et cheval (Étude) ([7], OPP.06:011), which was on sale for 22 GBP, the most expensive work on display. Almost all the works dated to before 1907, mostly from Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods. Stockbroker and collector Frank Stoop acquired Le meneur de cheval nu: jeune homme et cheval (Étude) ([7], OPP.06:011) and Jeune femme en chemise (Madeleine) ([7], OPP.04:053).39

In May and through July, the gallerist Herwarth Walden brought together works by many of the French artists represented at the XXII Berliner Secession for the opening of his Sturm Galerie, labelling them once again as ‘expressionists’.40 Twenty-two drawings, gouaches and engravings by Picasso, mostly from before 1907, were shown, among them Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:048). Thirty-three works by other European artists, including Kandinsky and Marc, were exhibited in adjacent rooms as well. Also in May, Picasso was represented at the XXIV. Ausstellung der Berliner Secession with five works, among them La dame au chapeau noir ([7], OPP.09:105) and Le Pont-Neuf ([7], OPP.11:022), both on loan from Wilhelm Uhde. In his review of the exhibition, Curt Glaser (1879–1943) wrote that he was thankful ‘that the new works of Picasso are shown here in Berlin for the first time...Cubism, about which, in its short time in existence enough has been said, is undoubtedly only a side track, and we do not think that one day painting as a whole will lean in this direction’ ([20], pp. 37–38; [32], p. 374). From 23 May through 30 September, the fourth international exhibition ‘Sonderbund Westdeutscher Künstler’ was organized in Cologne.41 A room was reserved especially for Picasso, which included sixteen works from periods between 1901–1905 and 1907–1912; among them, Arlequin accoudé ([7], OPP.01:010) (lent by Edwin Suermondt), Les pauvres au bord de la mer (La tragédie) ([7], OPP.03:003) (lent by Professor Kreis), Acrobate et jeune arlequin ([7], OPP.05:214) (lent by Museumverein Elberfeld), L’acteur ([7], OPP.04:029) (lent by P. Leffmann), Garçon tenant un vase ([7], OPP.05:364), Les deux frères ([7], OPP.06:074), Tête de femme ([7], OPP.07:285), L’éventail (Pomme et éventail sur une table) ([7], OPP.09:197), Le mandoliniste ([7], OPP.11:025), L’Avenue Frochot, vu de l’atelier de l’artiste ([7], OPP.11:077) (lent by Alfred Flechtheim), and La violiniste ([7], OPP.11:072) (from Galerie Kahnweiler, later purchased by Flechtheim) ([20], pp. 46–47).

A few days before Picasso’s departure for Céret on 6 May ([38], p. 235; [45], p. 51), Gertrude Stein had bought two still lifes, Le petit verre ([7], OPP.11:102) and Nature morte au journal ([7], OPP.12:073).42 Kahnweiler wrote to him in July: ‘Shchukin is in Paris. As you know, he didn’t want to buy the painting. He insisted on buying the other, the one I didn’t want to sell. And so the flesh is weak I let myself be tempted...I sold it for 10,000 FRF’ ([20], p. 31; [32], p. 400). On 24 September, Picasso returned to Paris and, with his increased earnings, was able to move from No. 11, boulevard de Clichy and Bateau-Lavoir, where works have been stored, to a new residence at No. 242, boulevard Raspail, which had been located for him by Kahnweiler ([38], p. 248; [45], p. 61).43 Starting on 5 October and continuing through 31 December, the ‘Second Post-Impressionist exhibition’ Picasso would be featured again in London at Grafton Galleries ([22], p. 367; [49], pp. 405–06). The show included thirteen paintings and three drawings; among them, Composition: Les paysans ([7], OPP.06:014) of 1906, lent by Vollard; Bol vert et flacon noir ([7], OPP.08:154), lent by Leo Stein; and Nature morte aux bananes ([7], OPP.07:204), Paysage (Deux arbres) ([7], OPP.08:152), Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:039), Tête d’homme ([7], OPP.09:134), Femme et pot de moutarde ([7], OPP.09:140), Flacon et livres ([7], OPP.10:090), Buffalo Bill ([7], OPP.11:023), Tête d’homme moustachu (‘Kou’) ([7], OPP.12:052), and La tasse (Le bouillon ‘Kub’) ([7], OPP.12:197), all lent by Kahnweiler. Four works by Braque were also shown, most of them also lent by Kahnweiler. Matisse was represented by 27 paintings and sculptures and many drawings. For the first time Picasso’s works were displayed alongside his British contemporaries, including Duncan Grant and Wyndham Lewis. In his introduction to the catalogue, Roger Fry presented Picasso and Matisse as the leaders of the avant-garde in France. He emphasized that Picasso’s recent work aimed to create a language of purely abstract forms, a kind of ‘visual music’.

2.6. Albert C. Barnes

In early December, Albert C. Barnes spent some time in Paris. After becoming a millionaire, he had dedicated himself to the study and collecting of art and had commissioned one of his former high school classmates, the painter William Glackens, who had been living in Paris, to buy several ‘modern’ French paintings for him. During Barnes’ visit, he bought from Kahnweiler seven paintings by Picasso; Tête de femme ([7], OPP.07:279), Tête d’homme ([7], OPP.07:009), Verre et fruits ([7], OPP.08:265), Pot et fruits ([7], OPP.09:173), and Paquet de cigarettes et journal ([7], OPP.11:108). He would later also purchase Violon, partition et bouteille ([7], OPP.14:292). Nevertheless, under the influence of Leo Stein, he would eventually lose interest in Cubism, judging it too ‘academic, repetitive, and dead’ ([20], pp. 177, 179). On 17 December, Kahnweiler finally managed to convince Picasso to a contract for three years ([14], p. 21; [18], p. 34; [20], p. 27; [22], p. 367; [45], p. 95). The artist pointedly noted: ‘I shall moreover reserve the right to keep as many drawings as I deem necessary for my work’. Also notes: ‘You will allow me to decide when a painting is finished’ [50]. While the mean value of a drawing was 100 FRF, the value of a size 25 painting (81 cm × 65 cm) ran to 1000 FRF and a size 60 (130 cm × 97 cm) to 3000 FRF ([32], p. 412). Kahnweiler had earlier agreed to pay Braque just 40 FRF for drawings, 75 or 50 FRF for ‘drawings with wood-paper, marble, or any other accessories’, and 250 FRF for canvases, exactly a fourth of what he would later offer Picasso ([32], p. 411; [46], p. 207). After signing the contract with Kanweiler, Picasso returned to Céret, where he spent Christmas night with Haviland and Manolo, before continuing to Barcelona ([14], p. 21; [22], p. 367; [32], p. 412; [37], p. 349; [45], p. 84).

As further evidence of Picasso’s increased prices, Vollard let his Portrait d’Ambroise Vollard ([7], OPP.10:012) go to the Russian collector Ivan Morozov in 1913 for 3000 FRF. Moreover, after the expiration of his contract in January, Kahnweiler priced the artist’s new works at triple what he had assigned them before ([20]. p. 28). His reputation in America was also growing. Starting on 17 February and continuing through 15 March 1913, Picasso was included in the ‘International Exhibition of Modern Art’ (Armory Show) at the 69th Regiment Armory, New York, with eight works ([20], p. 51): the bronze sculpture Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:017), lent by Stieglitz; the three paintings and one gouache Paysage (Deux arbres) ([7], OPP.08:152), Portrait de Madame Soler ([7], OPP.03:018), Femme et pot de moutarde ([7], OPP.09:140), and Tête d’homme, all lent by Kahnweiler; and the drawing Femme nue (1910) plus two still lifes, lent by Leo Stein, one of which was Vase, gourde et fruits sur une table ([7], OPP.09:136), the other being Bols et cruche (Cruche, bol et compotier) ([7], OPP.08:002). It also included three works by Braque, also lent by Kahnweiler, and twelve by Matisse. The exhibition subsequently traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago and Copley Hall, Boston ([22], p. 367; [27], p. 73).

3. Picasso’s Retrospective in Germany

In late February, the first Picasso retrospective in Germany, titled ‘Picasso, œuvres de 1901 à 1912’ was held at Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser (Moderne Galerie), Munich. It featured 76 paintings and 38 watercolors, pastels, drawings, and engravings from 1901 to 1912 ([22], p. 367).44 Of these, 24 paintings and nine drawings and engravings were on loan from private German collectors. Five paintings and nine drawings and engravings were from the collection of Alfred Flechtheim (Düsseldorf); four paintings from the collection of Franz Kluxen (Boldixum); three each from the collections of Hugo Perls (Berlin) and Edwin Suermondt (Aachen); and two each from the collections of Dr. Paul Ferdinand Schmidt (München), Princess Mechtilde Lichnowsky, and Henry Simms (Hamburg). Other loans were from Ludwig and Rosy Fischer (Frankfurt), Professor Wilhelm Kreis (Düsseldorf), and the painter Adolf Erblösch, co-founder of the Neue Künshändler-Vereinigung München. The person in charge of the organization had been Kahnweiler, who also exhibited 29 drawings and gouaches and a series of engravings ([20], p. 55). Justin K. Thannhauser commented in the catalogue preface: ‘It is widely believed that Picasso’s work stands at the origin of the whole Expressionist, Cubist, and Futurist movements. In fact, Picasso has nothing to do with any of these, except that he did provide the initial artistic impulse; nor does he want to have anything more to do with them. What distinguishes him from all these movements, even at first sight, is that unlike them he has never expressed his artistic intentions in programs, manifestos, or similar pronouncements; and he has never sought to explain his own new departures either psychologically or psychologistically: he has simply painted’ ([32], p. 414).45 Among the works on display were Arlequin accoudé ([7], OPP.01:010), Le jardin enchanté ([7], OPP.01:195), Le repas de l’aveugle ([7], OPP.03:024), Portrait de Suzanne Bloch ([7], OPP.04:028), Le garçon bleu ([7], OPP.05:328), La mort d’arlequin ([7], OPP.05:504), Fleurs sur une table ([7], OPP.07:003), Femme nue sur un lit ([7], OPP.07:358), Paysage, coucher de soleil ([7], OPP.08:148), Buste de femme ([7], OPP.08:245), Tête de femme ([7], OPP.08:248), Femme aux poires (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:024), Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:048), Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:106), Pomme et tasse ([7], OPP.09:193), L’éventail (Pomme et éventail sur une table) ([7], OPP.09:197), La corbeille de faïence ([7], OPP.09:200), Vase de fleurs ([7], OPP.10:005), L’huilier ([7], OPP.10:089), La bouteille de rhum ([7], OPP.11:012), Le Pont-Neuf ([7], OPP.11:022), Le mandoliniste ([7], OPP.11:025), La grenade ([7], OPP.11:056), La violiniste ([7], OPP.11:072), L’Avenue Frochot, vu de l’atelier de l’artiste ([7], OPP.11:077), Verre et tasse ([7], OPP.11:092), Femme à la guitare (‘Ma Jolie’) ([7], OPP.11:115), Compotier et fruits ([7], OPP.12:030), Le poète ([7], OPP.12:036), Guitare, verre et journal ([7], OPP.12:093), Le saucisson ([7], OPP.12:290), and Violon, verre, pipe et ancre (Souvenir du Havre) ([7], OPP.12:005). The latter was bought by Vincenc Kramář from Thannhauser after the show.

Before Picasso’s return to Céret,46 Kahnweiler had visited his studio and made a major purchase worth 27,250 FRF at the prices set forth in the December contract. In exchange, the dealer had received 23 recent paintings of varying sizes, three earlier ones, 22 gouaches (including papiers collés), 46 recent, and four earlier drawings. Additionally, he paid Picasso 1000 FRF for repainting the background of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe de la famille Soler ([7], OPP.03:083).47 By the end of March, due to this father’s failing health, Picasso was forced to rush back to Barcelona.48 Don José would pass away on 3 May. A couple of days later and through 25 June, Vincenc Kramář started negotiations with Kahnweiler for the purchase of Bec à gaz et guitare ([7], OPP.12:028). The collector, in fact, would have the opportunity to meet Picasso on one of his visits to Paris ([40], p. 162). At the end of the month, Kahnweiler was also involved in negotiations with Gertrude Stein. He had sent her an appraisal of the Picassos she owned, among the most important of which were Trois femmes ([7], OPP.08:009) (20,000 FRF), Le meneur de cheval nu ([7], OPP.06:012) (12,000 FRF), Femme nue debout (Fernande) (Grand nu rose) ([7], OPP.06:020) (10,000 FRF), Jeune fille à la corbeille de fleurs ([7], OPP.05:030) (10,000 FRF), Acrobate à la boule (Fillette à la boule) ([7], OPP.05:069) (10,000 FRF), La femme à l’éventail (Juliette) ([7], OPP.05:029) (6000 FRF), and Portrait de Gertrude Stein ([7], OPP.06:027) (6000 FRF). The appraisal of the collection was needed due to her estrangement from her brother Leo ([20], p. 31; [32], p. 418).

There were two other important exhibitions of Picasso’s works around this time; ‘II. Gesamtausstellung’ started in August and ran through September at Galerie Goltz, Munich, where he was represented by five works, among them Tête de femme ([7], OPP.07:285), Violon et raisins ([7], OPP.12:044), and L’Arlésienne ([7], OPP.12:254). Another exhibition in the Autumn took place at the Berliner Secession, where 21 of his paintings were shown, among them Les pleureuses ([7], OPP.01:224), Portrait de Mateu Fernández de Soto ([7], OPP.01:008), Le repas de l’aveugle ([7], OPP.03:024), La repasseuse ([7], OPP.04:002), L’acteur ([7], OPP.04:029), Au Lapin Agile (Arlequin au verre) ([7], OPP.04:031), Hollandaise à la coiffe (La belle Hollandaise) ([7], OPP.05:037), Les deux frères ([7], OPP.06:074), Tête de femme ([7], OPP.07:285), and Le mandoliniste ([7], OPP.11:025).49 Further, in October through November, he was also featured in the ‘Erste Ausstellung’ of the Neue Galerie, Berlin, just opened by Otto Feldmann on Lennéstrasse 6a ([20], p. 57). One of the works exhibited there was Paysage ([7], OPP.07:354). These are Picasso’s most innovative and fruitful months in his entire career ([45], pp. 94, 100). He carefully noted his earnings from La Peau de l’Ours in his own handwritting. Covering the period through January 1916, his informal list also included an entry for 1914 of Level 4 Avril 3978.85 FRF ([18], p. 44). In a note from 15 November, Picasso also inscribed his earnings from sales to Kahnweiler, which amounted to 4950 FRF ([18], p. 278). In another note from 22 December, he would write down an additional 3250 FRF from sales to the dealer ([18], p. 278). Such high earnings had allowed him to relocate to a new residence at No. 5, bis, rue Schoelcher, boulevard Raspail in early October ([38], p. 285; [45], p. 61).

Additional Exhibitions in Germany

Kahnweiler finally managed to close the deal with Gertrude on 17 October, after she had settled things with Leo ([32], p. 423), purchasing Acrobate à la boule (Fillette à la boule) ([7], OPP.05:069), together with two other earlier works, for 20,000 FRF, and, in exchange, he gave her Homme à la guitare ([7], OPP.13:028). He would immediately sell Acrobate à la boule (Fillette à la boule) ([7], OPP.05:069) to Ivan Morozov for 16,000 GDF ([20], p. 31). In December, Kahnweiler organized an important second exhibition at Otto Feldmann’s Neue Galerie, Berlin, entitled ‘Picasso und Negerplastiken’. It would later travel to Dresden, Vienna, Zürich, and Basel. The works, among which was Paysage, coucher de soleil ([7], OPP.08:148), were shown along with African sculptures ([20], p. 57). By this date, Kahnweiler handed over to Picasso an additional 24,150 FRF, for a grand total of 51,400 FRF that year. Picasso was on his way to becoming a very wealthy man ([18], p. 44). During Christmas, there was an additional exhibition, entitled ‘Beiträge zur Künst des 19. Jahrhunderts und unserer Zeit’ at Galerie Alfred Flechtheim on Alleestraße 7, Düsseldorf. Among the Picassos on display were bronze casts of three of his early sculptures; Le fou ([7], OPP.05:223), Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.06:091), and Tête de femme (Fernande) ([7], OPP.09:017). This was the first showing of Picasso’s sculptures in Germany. None of his three-dimensional works or his most recent constructions had been included in his exhibitions at the Galerie Hans Goltz in 1912 or Heinrich Thannhauser’s Moderne Galerie in Munich in late February, 1913 ([27]. P. 75).

In January 1914, Galerie Paul Rosenberg opened at 21 rue La Boétie, Paris. Jacques-Emile Blanche provided a description of the fancy locale: ‘A façade entirely of marble, a vestibule of marble, a staircase of onyx...vast rooms hung with watered silk receiving torrents of light thanks to ingenious lozenge-shaped ceiling fixtures in which a dozen bulbs cluster like grapes on the vine’ ([18], p. 78). This same month, on the second station at Kunstsalon Emil Richter in Dresden of the exhibition ‘Picasso und Negerplastiken’, Kahnweiler added fourteen Cubist drawings to the 40 works already shown earlier. Among the Picassos on display was Trois femmes: nu debout (Étude) ([7], OPP.08:049).50 The exhibition would move in February through March to Galerie Miethke, Vienna ([20], p. 60), where 57 artworks would be shown, among them Femme et pot de moutarde ([7], OPP.09:140), Vase de fleurs ([7], OPP.10:005), L’huilier ([7], OPP.10:089), La bouteille de rhum ([7], OPP.11:012), Buffalo Bill ([7], OPP.11:023), La grenade ([7], OPP.11:056), L’étagère ([7], OPP.11:064), Verre et tasse ([7], OPP.11:091), Femme à la guitare (‘Ma Jolie’) ([7], OPP.11:115), Tête d’homme à la pipe (‘Boxeur’) ([7], OPP.12:062), and Le saucisson ([7], OPP.12:290).

In February, Kahnweiler purchased from Leo Stein the painting Le meneur de cheval nu ([7], OPP.06:012) for 10,000 FRF, selling it to Ivan Morozov for twice what he paid ([20], pp. 32, 69). He also offered the Russian Femme fatiguée, ivre ([7], OPP.02:003) for 8000 FRF, but Morozoy would not take the offer ([20], pp. 210–11). While Leo’s collection was on the decline, Albert C. Barnes’ kept increasing, many of them bought from Kahnweiler. Around this time he wrote to him: ‘I have counted twenty-five Renoirs, twelve Cézannes and twelve Picassos in my house’ ([20], p. 176). However, during the years before the war, Kahnweiler seemed to have sold only about 40% of the Picassos he had acquired. Following Vollard’s example, he focused on building an inventory of his artists’ work with the goal of holding it until the artists’ reputations were sufficiently established for their paintings to command high prices. He rarely organized exhibitions in France, preferring instead to encourage critics and other dealers to spread his artists’ acclaim ([18], p. 43). This same month, Michael Brenner signed a contract with Kahnweiler, whereby the Washington Square Gallery, New York, became the exclusive North American outlet for works by Picasso, Braque, Gris, and Léger in exchange for a 2500 FRF guarantee, which would be subsequently raised to 5000 FRF and, a month later, to 6000 FRF ([18], p. 43; [38], p. 296). On 20 February, the dealer wrote to Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, urging them to bid on La famille de saltimbanques (Les bateleurs) ([7], OPP.05:002) at the upcoming auction of the collection of La Peau de l’Ours ([18], p. 42). The collection included twelve paintings, gouaches, and pastels by Picasso, among them, L’homme à la pèlerine ([7], OPP.00:058), Mère tenant deux enfants (La mère) ([7], OPP.01:077), Mère et enfant (Maternité) ([7], OPP.01:217), Femmes et enfant (Intimité) ([7], OPP.02:096), Le poète Cornuti (L’Absithe) ([7], OPP.02:110), Les trois Hollandaises ([7], OPP.05:026), and Compotier et fruits ([7], OPP.08:036). The auction took place at Hôtel Drouot in Paris on March 2, featuring one hundred and 45 works, with 88 paintings and 57 drawings by 60 different artists ([18], p. 15; [20], p. 70).51 Young Cubist painters were represented, but Picasso only by pre-Cubist works, of which twelve were included. It also included ten paintings by Matisse. Thannhauser’s purchase of Picasso’s La famille de saltimbanques (Les bateleurs) ([7], OPP.05:002) for 11,500 FRF would cause a huge scandal, although it did not break a record, since Kahnweiler had sold Acrobate à la boule (Fillette à la boule) ([7], OPP.05:069) to Morosov in 1913 for 16,000 FRF ([20], p. 69). Matisse’s Compotier of Apples and Oranges by contrast sold only for 5000 FRF ([22], p. 368). The total result of the auction was 116,545 FRF, the quadruple of the purchase cost (27,500 FRF over a ten-year period). Although the paintings by Gauguin and van Gogh commanded high prices (4400 FRF and 4620 FRF, respectively), paintings by Picasso and Matisse brought the highest bids: 31,301 FRF was paid for works by Picasso and the total profit was 63,207 FRF, of which they gave 20% to the artists, i.e. 12,641 FRF. For Picasso, this would constitute one-fifth of his recorded income for 1914 ([22], p. 44). Salmon spoke of a ‘Hernani of painting’, an allusion to the famous battle between opposing factions of Romantics and Classicists at the first performance of Victor Hugo’s drama Hernani in 1830. In Gil Blas, Thannhauser was quoted as saying that he would have even ‘willingly paid twice as much’. An anti-German campaign was immediately launched in the press. However, among the bidders, in addition to the German dealers Heinrich Thannhauser (Munich), Alfred Flechtheim (Düsseldorf), Georg Caspari (Munich), and L. W. Guthier (Dresden) were the French collectors Coquiot and Joachim Gasquet, as well as artists and critics like Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, André Salmon, and Max Jacob and the curators of Le Louvre, Paul Jamot and Léon-Jacques Blocq ([18], pp. 39–40; [20], pp. 70–73). As FitzGerald points out, the critics perceived the auction as a confirmation of the art’s importance that their own aesthetic evaluations could not confer. Thus, this auction served to cast the issue of the interdependence between critical and commercial acclaim in a historical light and demonstrated the role of commercial success in the development of artistic reputation ([18], pp. 17–18).

On 4 April, Kahnweiler arranged for the exhibition ‘Picasso und Negerplastiken’ to move to the Moderne Galerie (Gottfried Tanner), Zürich, where it opened as ‘Sonderaustellung Pablo Picasso’. Forty-six paintings, seventeen drawings, and sixteen engravings were shown, among them, probably Courtisane au collier de gemmes (L’hétaïre) ([7], OPP.01:032) or Femme au collier de gemmes ([7], OPP.01:211), Garçon de profil, à la collerette ([7], OPP.05:350), Nature morte aux bananes ([7], OPP.07:204) (priced at 3000 FRF), Trois femmes (Étude) ([7], OPP.07:047), Trois femmes: nu debout (Étude) ([7], OPP.08:049) (priced at 18,000 CHF), Femme et pot de moutarde ([7], OPP.09:140), Le guitariste ([7], OPP.10:018), L’huilier ([7], OPP.10:089) (priced at 1000 FRF), Tête de jeune fille ([7], OPP.11:059), Vase de fleurs ([7], OPP.10:005), Soldat et fille ([7], OPP.11:095), Buffalo Bill ([7], OPP.11:023), La pointe de la Cité ([7], OPP.11:014) (priced at 7000 FRF), Cartes à jouer et verre ([7], OPP.11:097), La bouteille de rhum ([7], OPP.11:012), Verre et pipe ([7], OPP.11:101), Femme à la guitare (‘Ma Jolie’) ([7], OPP.11:115), La grenade ([7], OPP.11:056), La carafe (Bouteille et verre) ([7], OPP.11:084), L’étagère ([7], OPP.11:064), La tasse (Le bouillon ‘Kub’) ([7], OPP.12:197) (priced at 1500 FRF), Coquillages sur un piano ([7], OPP.12:065), Tête d’homme moustachu (‘Kou’) ([7], OPP.12:052), Le saucisson ([7], OPP.12:290), Guitare, verre et journal ([7], OPP.12:092), and Tête de jeune fille ([7], OPP.13:023); as well as Feuillage (Arbres) ([7], OPP.07:109) and Paysage (La rue des bois) ([7], OPP.08:114) from the collector Hermann Rupf (neither one illustrated in the catalogue) ([20], pp. 60–62). On 10 May and through 30 May, the exhibition moved the Kunsthalle Basel as part of the ‘Mai-Ausstellung’ through the efforts of Wilhelm Barth, who had gotten in contact with Gottfried Tanner about the possibility of continuing the Zürich exhibition in Basel. Twenty-one works were exhibited, among them Garçon de profil, à la collerette ([7], OPP.05:350) and Deux femmes nues se tenant ([7], OPP.06:021) (priced at 11000 CHF) ([20], pp. 60–64). In April, May, and June, Picasso noted additional earnings from sales to Kahnweiler: 5688 FRF, 1650 FRF, and 12,400 FRF, respectively ([18], pp. 47, 278).

In mid-June, Picasso left for Avignon, while Kahnweiler went on his summer vacation to the Bavarian Alps ([18], p. 47). After World War I was declared in August, Picasso wrote to Gertrude that he may have to make a trip to the capital in October as he was waiting for news of a check, presumably from Kahnweiler for the 20,000 FRF still owed him ([38], p. 354). On 17 November, Picasso took the night train to Paris, returning to No. 5, bis, rue Schoelcher ([38], p. 354; [45], p. 145).52 With most of its young men at war, the city appeared cheerless. Somewhat ambivalent in his attitude toward the war and as a foreigner with strong attachments to German patrons such as Kahnweiler and Thannhauser, Picasso was viewed with mistrust. Cubism as a whole became associated with les boches. ‘Kahnweiler’s strategy of developing the market primarily in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe, where his family was well connected, did not help with this perception’ ([18], p. 54). By mid December, Kahnweiler left Italy for Switzerland, where he would reside for the duration of the war. On 12 December, the stock of his gallery at 28, rue Vignon, Paris was sequestered by the French government. Having been declared an ‘enemy alien’, his property was subject to confiscation. Seven years later, the confiscated stock would be put up for sale in a series of four auctions at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris ([27], p. 80). Picasso would have to wait until May 1923 to receive the 20,500 FRF Kahnweiler owed him. Even after the debt had been settled, Picasso would keep him at bay for six more months before allowing him to make even a modest purchase ([18], pp. 152–53, 293–94).

4. Conclusions

We have seen how Picasso’s early career followed the usual steps of many conventional artists. He was educated at regional and national art schools and was first shown at local establishments, advancing subsequently to national exhibitions in his native country. His relocation to Paris also followed a pattern that was common with many Spanish painters of this period. Although he underwent the usual challenges of his early years in the French capital, he was soon recognized as a ground-breaking artist and a secure investment by important dealers and collectors. Abiding by the recommendations of his first long-term marchand, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, whose strategy was to avoid the French salons, Picasso exhibited at small avant-garde galleries not only in Paris but, very importantly, in ‘Germanic’ enclaves such as Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna, Zürich, and Prague. This would have dramatic consequences when World War I broke out, as Picasso’s works (specifically his Cubist output) were identified as Boche (German). While he had equally attracted buyers of American (Stein, Barnes) and Russian (Shchukin, Morosov) origins, the fact that many of his collectors were of German affiliation (Uhde, Rupf, Perls, Suermondt, Schmidt) did not help assuage the popular misgivings. Furthermore, during the war, the entire holdings of Kahnweiler, a German national, were confiscated by the French government, which deeply affected the value of his works in the market when they were auctioned in the 1920s. French collectors such as André Level and his organization La Peau de l’Ours served to compensate for Picasso’s economic worries of these difficult years. The purchase of one of his Rose period paintings for 11,500 FRF by Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser (Moderne Galerie) at auction in 1914 allowed Picasso to take aesthetic risks that would eventually lead to the innovations of Cubism.