Title: Plant de Tomate, 1944 (Pablo Picasso)

Inventory number: K-1

Dimensions/Medium: 73 × 91.5 cm/oil on canvas

Characteristics: signed on the front and on the right, “Picasso”; dated on the back or on the right, “4 août 44”

Summary of Provenance

According to the artist’s date on the back of the painting, Pablo Picasso’s *Plant de Tomate* was created on August 4, 1944, in Paris, and, based on current research, was likely revised by him on August 12, 1944. It remained in the artist’s possession until 1946 and—as evidenced by a label on the back of the painting—may have been in the collection of A. P. Rosenberg & Co., Inc., as early as 1949. Paul Rosenberg (1881–1959), who had run one of the most important galleries in Paris before World War II, representing Picasso, Matisse, Braque, and Léger—had fled with his family to New York in 1940, where he opened his gallery, Rosenberg & Co., specializing in contemporary, American, and European art that same year. Paul Rosenberg represented Picasso on the American market, which is why the painting was likely sent directly from the artist to the Rosenberg family. On June 6, 1951, the painting was sold to Thomas May, an American department store entrepreneur and long-time head of the May Company in Los Angeles. The painting remained in May’s possession until his death on August 26, 1968. It is unclear whether, after his death, it passed to his wife or directly to his children as heirs. On November 14, 1989, the painting was sold at Christie’s in New York to an unknown buyer during the “Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture—Part I” auction. On November 9, 1999, the painting was again offered for sale at Christie’s in New York during the “Twentieth Century Art” auction, where it was purchased by Heidi Horten.