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Original etching with scraper and burin printed in black ink on Montval laid paper bearing the Vollard watermark.
Inscribed with the date in the plate (in reverse) lower right Paris 10 Marz XXXIV.
A richly printed impression of Geiser/Baer’s fifth and final state, printed after the steelfacing of the plate, from the edition of 260 on this paper (there were a further 50 impressions printed on Montval laid paper with wider margins and the Montgolfier watermark, and 3 impressions printed on parchment). Plate 82 of 100 from the Suite Vollard. Published by Ambroise Vollard, Paris, 1939; printed by Roger Lacourire, Paris.
Catalog: Bloch 219; Geiser 424 V.B.d
Platemark: 8 3/4 x 12 3/8 inches
Sheet size: 13 3/8 x 17 5/8 inches
In superb condition, printed on a sheet with full margins.
Literature regarding this artwork: Brigitte Baer, Picasso the Printmaker: Graphics fgrom the Marina Picasso Collection, Dallas Museum of Art, 1983, no. 41, p. 79 (ill.); Brigitte Baer, Picasso The Engraver: Selections fromm the Mus�©e Picasso, Paris, Thames and Hudson, 1997, cat. 59, p. 65 (ill.); Betsy G. Fryberger, Picasso Graphic Magician: Prints from the Norton Simon Museum, Philip Wilson Publishers Limited, London, 1998, no. 8.13, p. 126 (ill.); Emmanuel Benador, Picasso Printmaker: A Perpetual Metamorphosis, QCC Art Gallery, The City University of New York, Bayside, New York, 2008, no. 24, p. 61 (ill.).
This etching is one of the most beautiful, evocative and expressive subjects in the whole of Picasso’s famous Suite Vollard. The combination of the wonderful rhythmic flow of the descriptive line, the extraordinary variations in the textures and the power of the theme make this a masterpiece in Picasso’s series of Sculptor’s Studio compositions. It underlines his position as one of the very greatest creative printmakers not only of the 20th century, but of the whole history of the print.
