CAZIEL & PICASSO, A unique friendship

CAZIEL & PIC ASSO a unique friendship

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Above: Pablo Picasso and Caziel together in 2 Mai 1951.

In 1948, Polish artist Caziel (Kasimir Zielenckiewisz, 1906-1988), met Pablo Picasso (18811973) for the first time. Caziel, who had first arrived in Paris 1936 armed with letters of recommendation from Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) and Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940), was then living at 59 Avenue de Saxe, Paris. Deemed a leading light of Polish émigré artists, Caziel was charged by the Polish government with offering Picasso a traditional Polish coat made from the pelt of a black Polish Heath sheep. Caziel dutifully presented himself at Picasso’s atelier at the Rue des Grands Augustins, Paris, and was well received. Picasso, having become a committed communist in 1944, and in his role as a ‘public face’ of liberal arts, had visited Poland after the War. He attended the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace in August 1948 in ruined Wroclaw and visited Cracow where he was decorated by President Boleslaw Bierut for his contribution to the work of international cultural collaboration and Franco-Polish friendship. During his visit, Picasso had fallen in love with the Polish people, culture, and folk art. When Caziel arrived at his studio, Above: Picasso announced to him that he already owned something Caziel (1906-1988) Polish. Caziel was amazed to see attached to Picasso’s easel Picasso in 1937, c. 1952 his very own design for the 1948 UNESCO catalogue. Picasso Pencil on paper 21.2 x 13.5 cm confessed that he was using Caziel’s drawing as inspiration 1

for a portrait of his young son Claude in his cot. Despite their age difference, there was an instant fellow feeling between the two painters.

Not only bonded by their love of Polish folk art and art in general, the two men also understood each other as only those displaced by war and political upheaval can. Picasso asked Caziel why he did not return to Poland to which Caziel replied that it was impossible to return as everything had changed. Picasso immediately understood and consoled him with the words: “Ah – you are like me; I cannot return to Spain.” With that, the two men embraced each other warmly, and so began their close, intimate friendship.

Above left: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Le Faune, 1949 Pencil on paper 31 x 24 cm

Above right: Caziel (1906-1988) The Bull, c. 1949 Pencil on paper 45 x 29 cm

Bottom right: Caziel wearing a traditional Polish Heath sheep coat.

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Above left: The Harpy, c. 1949 Pencil on paper 27 x 21 cm

Above centre: Picasso in 1920, c. 1952 Pencil on paper 21.3 x 25 cm

Below: Les Parques, c. 1947 Oil on canvas 103 x 133 cm

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Above right: Picasso Caricature, c. 1949 Pencil on paper 25 x 16 cm

From 1948-1952, Caziel joined Picasso on his yearly holidays at Juan-Les-Pins and the drawing Le Faune (illustrated page 2) was executed there in 1949. Picasso portrayed Caziel as a faun, his chosen mythological personification. Caziel is one of the only artists to be afforded the opportunity and permission to draw caricatures of Picasso in his presence. His drawings are very telling about the character and moods of the great artist. Whilst Picasso drew Caziel as a mischievous faun, Caziel instead drew Picasso in a more erotic light: as a lustful Priapus or a serial womaniser with large groping hands and bull’s horns (illustrated on pages 2 & 3).

He also depicted him at various ages and stages of his career.

Unfortunately, the two men would eventually have a falling out after five years of intense friendship. A jealous man by nature, Picasso disliked Caziel’s innocent, friendly flirting with his then mistress Françoise Gilot (1921-2023) at a party. Their relationship cooled off significantly and Caziel spent less time in Picasso’s immediate circles. However, he remained friends for life with Spanish artist and poet Jaime Sabartes (1881-1968) who was Picasso’s secretary and was always very dedicated in his efforts to put Caziel in touch with galleries and prospective buyers. Sabartes was also a witness at Caziel’s wedding to his second wife, Catherine Sinclair in 1958.

Above: La Guerre, 1953 Oil on canvas 196 x 208 cm 4

Caziel’s personal acquaintance with Picasso did not have a direct influence on his art. As early as 1948, Caziel was already beginning to lean towards abstract painting. In 1951, he renounced figuration entirely and joined the ‘Groupe Espace’, whose program of uniting Constructivist art with architecture promoted the creation of a new environment appropriate to the new society of the modern age.

At this time, the legendary art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler – sent by Sabartes - invited Caziel to join his stable of figurative artists headed by Picasso, assuming that Caziel’s abstract work was an experiment. Caziel however declined the offer, declaring: “I am abstract!” In further correspondence with Kahnweiler in 1951, he wrote: “if you say that abstractionism is decorative painting – then you are mistaken.” Caziel’s decision was made. Like so many artists who met Picasso, Caziel followed his salutary message that: “Art is only an immense heritage. There are never any new discoveries, only new mixtures.”

Having partaken of this spirit of discovery during his time spent with Picasso, Caziel decided to forge his own path and whole-heartedly threw himself into developing his own unique style of pure Abstraction from the early 1950s onwards.

Clementina Stiegler, Daughter of the Artist

Above left: Composition 1963.1, 1963 Oil on hardboard 81.5 x 45 cm Bottom left: Composition 25.08.1956, 1956 Oil on canvas 162 x 138 cm Opposite page: Composition 26/XI/1965, 1965 Oil on hardboard 90 x 50 cm 5

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Above: Composition X/1965, 1965 Oil on canvas 46 x 38.5 cm

Right: Composition 1967.V, 1967 Oil on panel 74.5 x 54.5 cm

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Above: Composition, 1967 Oil on panel 54.3 x 47.3 cm

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Above: Abstract Composition 1967.5.IIX, 1967 Oil on canvas 147 x 135 cm

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Front cover: detail of Composition 24.XI.1965 (1965) by Caziel.

Facing title page: detail of Les Parques (c. 1947) by Caziel.

Facing page: detail of Composition 25.08.1956 (1956) by Caziel.

Back cover: Le Faun (1949) by Pablo Picasso.

Published in London by Whitford Fine Art, London, UK. All artwork ©Caziel Estate, courtesy of Whitford Fine Art, London.

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Artwork photography: Paul Murphy Ltd/ Mario Bettela, London.

Design and production: Axis Graphic Design and Whitford Fine Art, London.

Printed and bound in the UK.

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