© Sucesión Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2023
One of Pablo Picasso's notable works is Jaqueline Seated, a painting dating from 1954 that depicts his late and beloved muse, Jaqueline Roque. This meaningful work captures the emotional and artistic intensity with which Picasso experimented.
In this work, his style is characterised by simplified geometric forms, expressive lines and vibrant colours. The figure of Jaqueline is rendered abstractly, with angular shapes and a layered structure that demonstrates Picasso's unique ability to depict the human figure in an unconventional manner.
The work represents an expression of Picasso's love and devotion to his muse Jaqueline. In the 1950s, Picasso had settled on the French Côte d'Azur with Jaqueline Roque, who became his companion and muse during the last years of his life. This work was painted when Picasso was 73 years old and deeply in love with Jaqueline, whom he had met in 1952 and married in 1961. The relationship between Picasso and Jaqueline was intense and passionate, and her presence in Picasso's life is reflected in many of his works from that period.
With her serene pose and enigmatic face, Jaqueline Seated evokes both tranquillity and love. The bright colour palette and bold composition add energy and vitality to the work. The three bands of colour, red for the ground, yellow for the space behind and blue for the sky, are reminiscent of an outdoor setting in the Mediterranean sun, even though the painting was painted in Paris. A background of chromatic planes reminiscent of his friend Matisse, now close to death, who used to place the female figures in his paintings on large patches of flat colour.
Sources:
"Pablo Picasso: The Late Years, 1932-1973" - Catalogue Raisonné, por Brigitte Léal, Christine Piot, Marie-Laure Bernadac, y Bernard Picasso.
"Picasso: A Biography" por Patrick O'Brian.
Museo Picasso Málaga - https://museopicassomalaga.org/coleccion/jacqueline-sentada