Pablo Picasso
The Cock1932

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Bronze sculpture of two interlocked animal figures in a twisting struggle, with rough expressionistic surface texture and dark brown patina, on a craggy base

Bronze sculpture of a rearing horse with dramatically outstretched legs and flowing mane, mounted on a rough textured base, with heavily worked surface showing expressive, gestural modeling.

Bronze sculpture of a rearing horse with a figure clinging to its back, both forms merging in rough, heavily textured modeling; dark brown patina; mounted on a rocky base.

Artist or Maker: Pablo Picasso
Spain, 1881-1973, active France
Title: The Cock
Place Made: Spain
Date Made: 1932
Medium: Bronze, cast number 2/6
Dimensions: 26 × 25 × 15 in. (66.04 × 63.5 × 38.1 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Lucille Ellis Simon in Honor of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.82.85
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: Much of Picasso’s career can be charted by the succession of his relationships with women and his depictions of them. These portraits variously reflect affection, passion, conflict, and hostility. While still married to Ukrainian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova, he had begun an affair with Marie-Thérèse Walter, whom he met in 1927 when she was still a teenager. For most of the nine years they were involved, Picasso’s potent references to Walter were encoded in visual clues such as initials, hats, body parts, and items of clothing worn by his young girlfriend.

Here, the choice of animal motif is rife with symbolism: it may be connected to Picasso’s recent move to the countryside, but it is also a symbol of France and alludes to the artist’s libido. The preening male rooster has feathers that arch suggestively, creating a negative space that may also reference the outline of Walter’s identifiable profile—high forehead, short haircut, and pronounced facial features.

Wall label, 2021.
Provenance: The artist (1881-1973). [Kahnweiler’s Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris]. [Curt Valentin Gallery, New York]. Mr. G. David Thompson (1899-1965), Pittsburgh; Estate of Mr. G. David Thompson; [sold 1966, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, March 23, 1966]; [to Perls Gallery, New York]; sold circa 1967 to Mr. and Mrs. Norton Simon, Los Angeles, until 1970; Lucille Ellis Simon (1911-2000), Los Angeles; given in 1982 to LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Spies, Werner. Picasso: the Sculptures. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2000.
Wight, Frederick S. 20th Century Sculpture from Southern California Collections. Los Angeles: UCLA Art Galleries, 1972.

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Tuesday	11 am–6 pm
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