Abstraction: Background with Blue Cloudy Sky

1. Paul Rosenberg (1881–1959), Paris. Valentine Gallery, New York, by Jan. 1931 [New York 1931]. Lefevre Gallery, London, by June 1931 [London 1931]. Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1932 [Paris 1932]. W. Rees Jeffreys, Wivelsfield Green, Sussex, England, by 1936 [London 1936]. Lefevre Gallery, London, 1953 [London 1953]. Sold through Zwemmer Gallery, London, to the Art Institute, 1955.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

• New York, Valentine Gallery, Abstractions of Picasso, January 1931, cats. 17, 20, or 23, as Abstract Forms, Background with Blue Sky.
• London, Alex, Reid and Lefevre, Thirty Years of Pablo Picasso, June 1931, cat. 33 (ill.).
• Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Picasso, June 16–July 30, 1932, p. 63, cat. 192, as Métamorphose.
• Kunsthaus Zurich, Picasso, September 11–October 30, 1932, p. 14, cat. 191, as Abstraktion.
• London, New Burlington Galleries, The International Surrealist Exhibition, June 11–July 4, 1936, p. 26, cat. 300, as Abstraction, Time and Eternity.
• London, Lefevre Gallery, Picasso, May–June 1953, p. 4, cat. 12 (ill.), as Abstraction Fond de Ciel Bleu Nuageux.
• The Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery of Art Interpretation: Presenting the Art Institute's Picassos, September–December1955, no cat.
• The Art Institute of Chicago, Picasso in Chicago, February 3–March 31, 1968, pp. 33 and 114, cat. 34 (ill.), as Abstraction: Background with Blue Cloudy Sky.
• Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dada and Surrealism in Chicago Collections, December 1 1984–January 27, 1985, p. 208 (ill.).
• Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, The Age of Picasso and Matisse: Modern Masters from the Art Institute of Chicago, October 6, 2013–February 16, 2014, no cat. no.
• Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Picasso: Drawing from Life, Nov. 11, 2023–Apr. 8, 2024, no cat.

• Michel Leiris, “Toiles Récentes de Picasso,” Documents 2, 2 (1930), p. 63 (ill.).
• Carl Einstein, Die Kunst des 20 Jahrhunderts, 3rd Edition (Berlin: Im Propyläen, 1931), p. 638, pl. IX.
• Valentine Gallery, Abstractions of Picasso, exh. cat. (New York: Valentine Gallery, 1931), either cats. 17, 20, or 23.
• Lloyd Goodrich, “Exhibitions: Picasso’s Latest,” The Arts 17:6 (Mar. 1931), p. 414 (ill.), as Abstract Forms.
• Alex, Reid and Lefevre, Thirty Years of Pablo Picasso (London: Alex, Reid and Lefevre, 1931), cat. 33 (ill.).
• Herbert Furst, “The Picasso Exhibition at the Lefevre Galleries,” Apollo 13:78 (June 1931), pp. 395 and 397 (ill.).
• “Art Exhibitions: Pablo Picasso,” The Times (London, June 1931).
• Raymond Mortimer, “Picasso,” The Architectural Review 70 (July 1931), p. 21 (ill.).
• Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Picasso, exh. cat. (Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1932), p. 63, cat. 192.
• Kunsthaus Zurich, Picasso, exh. cat. (Zurich: Kunsthaus Zurich, 1932), p. 14, cat. 191.
• New Burlington Galleries, The International Surrealist Exhibition, exh. cat. (London: New Burlington Galleries, 1936), p. 26, cat. 300.
• Frank H. Knight, “Interpreting History,” Saturday Review of Literature XVI:5 (May 29, 1937), p. 5 (ill.), Abstract Forms.

The Old Guitarist

Art Institute of Chicago

Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler

Art Institute of Chicago

The Red Armchair

Art Institute of Chicago

Mother and Child

Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of Pablo Picasso

Art Institute of Chicago

Man with a Pipe

Art Institute of Chicago

Head of a Woman (Fernande)

Art Institute of Chicago

Nude under a Pine Tree

Art Institute of Chicago

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