“Eugène Delacroix had already met you.”
Thus began Picasso’s relationship with Jacqueline Roque, the woman called his ‘final muse.’ Roque was a sales assistant at Madoura Pottery in Vallauris, France, and 27 years old to Picasso’s 72, when her striking looks caught his attention in 1953. He pursued her with a younger man’s vigour – bringing her a single rose every day until she could hold off no longer and fell under his spell. They married in 1961.
Picasso would go on to paint 400 portraits of her, such was her captivating, yet unconventional beauty. They were only separated by his death in 1973. Now, in the fortieth anniversary since her own death, a number of these portraits are to be offered by Christie’s over the next few months.
Femme Nue III, painted in December 1964, has been part of a private collection since 2001 and is expected to fetch between HKD 18,000,000 – HKD 28,000,000 as part of the 20th/21st Century Evening Sale in Hong Kong on 29th September.
Meanwhile, Portrait de Jacqueline accoudée, a linocut from 1959 is expected to fetch between £100,000 – £150,000 at the 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale on 14th October.
Find out more about the sales, and more about Jacqueline’s place in Picasso’s legacy here
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