If there is a twentieth-century artist who truly needs no introduction, it is Picasso; if there is a twentieth-century artist about whom more books have been written than Picasso, we have no idea who it might be. In any case, Picasso is not going to get much of a general introduction here. Rather, a general introduction to the works in our inventory must suffice. Picasso was a wildly inventive artist who periodically returned from whatever voyage he was undertaking to rest, refresh himself with the familiar—classically-drawn people, bullfights, dances, animals, birds, insects, flowers, the artist and his model, love and lust—before venturing out for further explorations,. Picasso helped invent the artistic vocabulary of Cubism, Surrealism, and Post-Modernism. Along with a few other artists—Matisse, Kandinsky, Braque., and Miró spring quickly to mind—he invented modernity in art for the twentieth century.
Bibliography: The literature on Picasso is enormous. We list here only catalogue raisonnés for his prints: Georges Bloch, Volume I: Catalogue of the Printed Graphic Work 1904-1967 (Berne: Editions Kornfeld and Klipstein, 1971); Georges Bloch, Volume II: Catalogue of the Printed Graphic Work 1966-1969 (Berne: Editions Kornfeld and Klipstein, 1971); Georges Bloch and The Picasso Projest, Volume III: Catalogue of the Printed Graphic Work 1970-1972 and Supplement to Volume I also contains a concordance of the Bloch numbers with the Baer numbers; published Alan Wofsy, 2004); Galerie Louis Leiris, Picasso: 156 Gravure Récentes (Paris: Galerie Louis Leiris, 1973); Sebastian Goeppert, Herma Goeppert-Frank, & Patrick Cramer, Pablo Picasso The Illustrated Books: Catalogue Raisonné (Geneva: Patrick Cramer, 1983); Ulrike Gauss, Pablo Picasso Lithographs (NY: D. A. P., 2000); Fernand Mourlot, Picasso Lithographs (Boston: Boston Book and Art, 1970). The Gauss Lithographs uses the same numbers as the Mourlot catalogue, but illustrates color prints in color; the 156 Gravure Récentes picture book was published by Picasso's longtime gallery and illustrates the entire series, now also to be found in Georges Bloch and The Picasso Projest, Volume III: Catalogue of the Printed Graphic Work 1970-1972 and Supplement to Volume I. Cramer illustrates all of Picasso's prints for books and art reviews and provides an authoritative source for information about the sizes of editions and the various papers used for the prints.
The three works that follow are all from Picasso's Series 156, executed shortly before his death in 1971. Each of the 156 etchings was issued in an edition of 50 numbered impressions and signed with the estate signature stamp. In what follows, I am quoting from an article by Elspeth Moncrieff on a sale of Picassso ceramics and prints at Christie's in London published in The Art Newspaper, n. 130 for November 2002, p. 49: "A high proportion of works were from Picasso's two late series, 347 and 156, executed shortly before his death in 1971. Traditionally, these prints have not been as highly regarded as the earlier etchings of the Suite Vollard, and this, coupled with the fact that there are so many of them, means that prices are still extremely reasonable [meaning, we learn later in the article, that "about 60% of the prints can still be bought for under £10,000" [then in the neighborhood of Please call or email for current pricing information]. Christie's took advantage of this fact to bring a lot of new private buyers into the market.
Picasso's involvement with his print-making was total. None of these works were reproductive and he was one of the most versatile and inventive print-makers ever known, constantly reinventing the rules and confounding the very best of the traditional print-makers he worked with. At the end of his life, he was living in the South of France and desperate to make prints. He persuaded the Crommelynck brothers, whom he had worked with in Paris, to set up a studio near him and worked furiously on these final plates until his death. In many ways, these prints can be considered his last great outpouring; intensely personal they are almost like a diary. The roles of men and women are almost reversed from the early Suite Vollard. Many of the prints are highly erotic, but here the woman is dominent and the man an impotent voyeur, reflecting his own frustrations. Several dealers including Alan Cristea believe that these are among Picasso's greatest and most personal prints; he had no need for money at this stage and up to now they have been ridiculously undervalued. Picassso knew he was dying and these prints are filled with impulses and characters from the past. There are several references to Degas, with whom Picasso in his frustrations could identify. Because they are among his last works, they are also in excellent condition." For Picasso's own views on his impotence, consider the witch doctor with the giant hypodermic needle aimed at his poor sexual organs; consider also the evident comic intent in this piece, which is the bottom work shown on our website here.
