Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Arlequin et sa Compagne
c.1955
Glass, in Gemmail technique *
Signed lower right
29 x 24.5 in / 73,6 x 62,2 cm

* Gemmail (plural: Gemmaux) is a complex intricate art form in which thousands of fragments of colored glass are assembled, layered, and fused to create an image in shallow relief that is then illuminated from behind. The word Gemmail is a contraction of “gemme,” a precious stone or gemstone, and “email,” meaning enamel.

Susie J. Silbert, Curator of Postwar + Contemporary Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, described this work as “amazing!"

Provenance:
Private Collection, France
By descent to current owner

Exhibited:
Galerie de la Lumiere, Paris, 1955
Monaco Exhibition with S.A.S le Prince Ranier de Monaco, 1956
Grande Gallerie du Faubourg St. Honoré , Paris, March 1957
Chapelle de la Paix, Monaco with S.A.S le Prince Ranier de Monaco, 1961

Documentation:
Certificate from Roger Malherbe Navarre, 1961

The Gemmail technique was first invented in the 1930’s in France, and then further developed and perfected in the 1950’s at the Atelier of the Malherbe Family, outside of Paris. In 1954, when Picasso was introduced to the Gemmaux process by his friend, the influential writer, Jean Cocteau, he could immediately envision the great possibilities of artistic expression that the medium could offer. Les Gemmaux showed color in a way that could not be matched or reproduced in any other art medium. A Gemmail is essentially a translucent painting, transforming and modulating color by capturing light through the many layers and textures of the glass.

Picasso also introduced several of his friends and fellow artists including George Braque and Kees Van Dongen to the Malherbe Atelier. However, Picasso, more than any of the other artists, excelled in the difficult and meticulous process, which involved layering the various-sized chards of glass to create and expand depth and intensity of color. In 1954, after re-imagining one of his earlier masterpieces in the Gemmail process, Picasso was so intrigued with the technique and so fascinated with the results he could achieve, that he declared “Un art nouveau est né ‘Les Gemmaux’” (‘A new art is born “Les Gemmaux”’). Picasso continued working with the “gemmists” at the Malherbe Atelier for the next two years creating a total of between 50 and 60 Gemmaux masterpieces.

Between 1955 and 1959, major exhibitions of Les Gemmaux in Paris, Cannes, Monaco, and Munich enthusiastic crowds. Picasso Gemmaux included in these exhibits were acquired by Prince Rainier of Monaco, the Emperor of Japan, Nelson Rockefeller, Stanley Marcus, Raymond Loewy, and the Rothschild and Weisweiller families. In 1959, the “First American Exhibition of “Gemmaux de France” was organized for travel to more than a dozen major art museums across the United States.

More information about Gemmaux can be found in pages of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s catalogue for “Gemmaux to France” - View The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Gemmaux Catalogue

Picasso Gemmaux Conservation Report

Condition: As described above, the technique by which this work was created was developed in the 1930’s by a French family. By heating a bath of clear enamel, pieces of colored glass would bond together to create the art. Clear glass panes protected the front and rear (verso) of the completed work.

The thousands of individual colored glass fragments that comprise this work of art appear completely intact. There is no evidence that any of the bonded pieces have loosened. However, the clear pane that covers the front of this work has a crack, and the clear pane that covers the back of this work (the verso) has multiple cracks.

Art conservators have viewed this work and it is their opinion that the front pane of glass, which sits apart from the art, will be easily replaceable. It is possible, however, that residue from the enamel bond may have adhered to the rear pane in which case that pane should remain in place with a new clear glass pane placed over it. In this way, the clear cracked glass pane on the verso will become encased and protected indefinitely.

It should be noted that the cracks on the rear pane are invisible when viewing the work from the front.

This work of art is currently in Guernsey’s New York City office where prospective bidders and/or their representatives are invited to view it in person.

This is an online only sale. Items may be viewed upon appointment in New York City.

Notice to bidders: More detailed condition reports and additional photographs are available by request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is in excellent condition. Please message us through the online bidding platform or call Guernsey's at 212-794-2280 to request a more thorough condition report. Notwithstanding any condition report or discussion concerning a lot, all lots are offered and sold “as is” in accordance with the condition of sale.