Head of a Jester
Date
(1905/cast 1910-1939)
Artist
Pablo Picasso, Spanish, b. Málaga, 1881–1973
Provenance
Ambroise Vollard, Paris, c. 1910-39
Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, probably 17 April 1952-12 April 1955
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, New York, 12 April 1955-17 May 1966
Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Exhibition History
*[CURT VALENTIN GALLERY, New York. "Sculpture by Painters," 20 November-15 December 1951, no. 61.]
*[CURT VALENTIN GALLERY, New York. "Pablo Picasso: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings," 19 February-15 March 1952, no. 41, ill.]
-- V. Fletcher comment: *Valentin sold more than one cast of the Jester, so it is not clear if HMSG's cast or another was featured in the above exhibitions. Label in HMSG's cast "4.17.52 C-5" indicates that HMSG's was in this exhibition.
LEONID KIPNIS GALLERY, Westport, Connecticut. "Modern Sculpture," 18-30 November 1956 (sponsored by the Westport Community Art Association), no. 31.
FINE ARTS ASSOCIATES, New York. "Picasso Sculpture," 15 January 1956 - 9 February 1957, no. 2, ill.
NEW YORK SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York. "19th and 20th Century French Painting and Sculpture," 27 March-1 May 1957.
DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS. "Sculpture in Our Time: Collected by Joseph H. Hirshhorn," 5 May-23 August 1959, no. 187, ill. TOUR: MILWAUKEE ART CENTER, 10 September-11 October; WALKER ART CENTER, Minneapolis, 25 October-6 December; WILLIAM ROCKHILL NELSON GALLERY OF ART, Kansas City, Missouri, 20 December-31 January 1960; THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Houston, 1-27 March; LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF HISTORY, SCIENCE AND ART, 11 April-15 May; M. H. DE YOUNG MEMORIAL MUSEUM, San Francisco, 29 May-10 July; COLORADO SPRINGS FINE ARTS CENTER, Colorado, 24 July-4 September; ART GALLERY OF TORONTO, 30 September-31 October.
SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, New York. "Modern Sculpture from the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection," 3 October 1962-6 January 1963, no. 363, ill. p. 84.
ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, Toronto. "Picasso and Man," 11 January-16 February 1964, no. 26, ill. TOUR: MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, 28 February-31 March 1964.
DALLAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Texas. "Picasso," 8 February-26 March 1967, no. 87.
HOPKINS CENTER ART GALLERIES, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, Hanover, New
Hampshire. "Sculpture in Our Century: Selections from the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection," 25 May-9 July 1967, no. 43, ill. p. 32.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Inaugural Exhibition," 4 October 1974-15 September 1975.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Washington, DC. "Picasso: The Saltimbanques," 4 December 1980-20 January 1981.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, Ottawa, Ontario. "The Great Parade: Portrait of the Artist as Clown," 25 June- 19 September 2004. TOUR: GALERIES NATIONALES DU GRAND PALAIS, Paris, 9 March- 31 May 2004.
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, New York. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," 13 September 2006-7 January 2007, no. 161b, not illustrated. TOUR: ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, 17 February-13 May; MUSEE D'ORSAY, Paris, 18 June-16 September 2007 [not included].
NAPLES MUSEUM OF ART, Florida. "Picasso: Preoccupations and Passions," 29 January-18 May 2008, fig. 6 (exh. brochure, color).
Published References
[BEMESCH, OTTO, intro. Pablo Picasso Blaue et Rosa Periode (Munich: Kurt Desch, 1945), pl. 45 (lent by Curt Valentin)
-- See V.J.Fletcher's memo of 19 October 1995; Valentin sold several casts of work so this may not be HMSG's.
FITZSIMMONS, JAMES. "Picasso: Half-Century Survery," Art Digest 26/10 (15 February 1952), p. 16.
MELLOW, JAMES R. "In the Galleries: Picasso Sculpture," Arts 31 (February 1957), p. 54.
TYLER, PARKER. "Reviews and Previews: Picasso," Art News 55 (February 1957), p. 8.
KEY, DONALD. "Sculpture Show at Art Center Reflects Trends," Milwaukee Journal (13 September 1959), p. V6.
BOGGS, JEAN. "Picasso Comes to Toronto," Peterborough Examiner (9 Janaury 1964), p. 1, ill.
LERNER, ABRAM, et al. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (New York: Abrams, 1974), p. 733, colorpl. 222.
JOHNSON, UNA E. Ambroise Vollard, Editeur (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1977), p. 169.
[Picasso (Tokyo: Zauho Press, 1977), ill.]
See more items in
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection
School
Spanish Modernism
Credit Line
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Data Source
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Accession Number
66.4044
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
16 1/8 x 14 7/8 x 9 5/16 in. (41 x 37.8 x 23.7 cm)
