rediscovery of `la famille soler` by picasso

84mm
La Famille Soler by Picasso, 1903, 150cm x 200cm, Musée des BeauxArts de Liège, Belgium.
REDISCOVERY OF 'LA FAMILLE SOLER' BY PICASSO THROUGH PORTABLE ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION
C.DEFEYT*1, B. VEKEMANS2, P. VANDENABEELE2, H. ROUSSELIÈRE3, L. SAMAIN1, P. WALTER3, D. STRIVAY1
1UNIVERSITY OF LIÈGE, BELGIUM, 2UNIVERSITY OF GHENT, BELGIUM, 3PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE UNIVERSITY, FRANCE
*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: CATHERINE.DEFEYT@ULG.AC.BE
Current background - 1913
A MULTI-TRANSFORMED PAINTING
Cubist sketch - 1913
La Famille Soler (Fig. 2) painted in 1903 is considered as the earliest Picasso’s version of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe made by Manet. With the masterpiece La
Vie, it is the only large format painting from the 1903-1904 Blue Period (1). Actually, La famille Soler corresponds to the central part of a domestic triptych
ordered by Benet Soler, a tailor established in Barcelona. From 1903 to 1913, La famille Soler was modified three times. A few months after the triptych
delivery, Soler asked the Catalan painter S. Junyer-Vidal (Fig. 8), Picasso’s friend to transform the uniform blue background from the central part (2). Ten
years later, the Parisian artworks dealer, D. H. Kanhweiler, bought the central part to the tailor in order to sell it in Paris. Picasso took the opportunity to rework on his painting. Before applying the current uniform blue background over the Vidal’s work, Picasso attempted an unknown composition (3).
Vidal’s wood - 1903
Original background - 1903
Underdrawing - 1903
Priming layer - 1903
Original canvas - 1903
Lining canvas - prior 1913
IN SITU ANALYTICAL STUDY
RESEARCH ON THE LOST COMPOSITIONS
• IR reflectography and X-ray radiography techniques
were applied for revealing both hidden compositions
• Study of the composition painted by Junyer-Vidal in 1903,
hidden by the 1913 Picasso’s composition and the current
background, and characterization of the palette used to make it
• Study of the 1913 Picasso’s composition lying beneath the
current background, and characterization of the palette used to
make it
Stratigraphy of the
background from
La Famille Soler.
• XRF mappings, FTIR, XRD and Raman measurements
were undertaken for the pigment identification.
Fig. 1 Black and white studio-made picture of the Soler’s
family, 1903, private collection. Picasso used this picture to
paint La famille Soler (4).
IR
Radio
Cu
Zn
Hg
As
2
1
Fig. 2 La Famille Soler by Picasso, 1903, 150cm x 200cm, Musée des
Beaux-Arts de Liège, Belgium. XRF mappings recorded for the zones 1
and 2 framed in white, are given in Fig. 6 and 7
Fig. 4 Schematic drawing of Vidal’s composition (1903) revealed
by IR reflectography and X-ray radiography. The tree positions as
well as the skyline remind Le déjeuner sur l’herbe by Manet
Fig. 3 Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe by Manet,1863,
208cm x 264cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
Fig. 5 Schematic drawing of Picasso’s sketch (1913) revealed by IR
reflectography and X-ray radiography. The line positions suggest a partial
transformation of Vidal’s landscape in the synthetic cubist style
NEW INSIGHTS
References
[1] Palau I Fabre Josep. Picasso en Catalogne. Société française du livre, Paris, 1979
[2] J. Richardson. Vie de Picasso, vol1, 1881-1906. Musée Picasso, Paris, 1992
[3] F. Dumont. Catalogue de l’exposition Pablo Picasso, Liège, salle SaintGeorges, du 6 octobre 2000 au 31 janvier 2001. Ville de Liège, Liège, 2001
[4] A. Baldassari. Picasso photographe 1901-1916. Éditions du Chêne, Paris, 1994
[5] F.M. Smith and J.D. Easton, J Oil Col Chem Assoc 49 (1966) 614-630.
[6] F.H. Moser, L.T. Arthur, Phthalocyanine Compounds. Reinhold, New York 1963
IR
Cu
As
Radio
Cd
Pb
Fig. 7 Cu, As, Cd and Pb XRF mappings obtained for zone 1
(140mm x 114mm) show the cubist strokes visible in
IR reflectography and X-ray radiography
CONCLUSIONS
• Junyer-Vidal’s composition
- As it can be seen by comparing Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, it was a landscape, probably inspired
by Le déjeuner sur l’herbe by Manet, then, connected to the Picasso’s artistic intend.
- The used palette contains Cd yellow, Vermillion, zinc and lead whites, Scheele’s green,
Viridian and iron oxides
• 1913 Picasso’s composition
- It was a cubist sketch that could correspond to a partial transformation of the Vidal’s
landscape in the synthetic cubist style, see Fig. 4 and Fig. 5
- The used palette contains Cd yellow, lead white, Scheele’s green and Ultramarine
Fig. 6 Cu, Zn, As and Hg XRF mappings obtained for zone 2
(84mm x 204mm) show the Vidal’s trees visible in
IR reflectography and X-ray radiography
• The composition painted by Junyer-Vidal was certainly
inspired from Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe by Manet. This
assumption is reinforced by the complicity existing
between Picasso and Junyer-Vidal in 1903.
• The cubist sketch made by Picasso in 1913 is connected
to the Vidal’s landscape and is in accordance with the
synthetic cubism of the early 1910’s
Fig. 8 Portrait of Sebastià Junyer i
Vidal by Picasso, ca 1902, Museu
Picasso, Barcelona
• The palette used by Picasso in 1903 and 1913 and the
one used by Vidal are very similar