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This is one of Picasso’s greatest graphic achievements. The work was executed by the artist in 1949, and finally printed in 1961, but was not published by his dealer until after the artist’s death.
This aquatint, after a painting by one of Picasso’s favorite old master artists: Lucas Cranach (1472-1553), is one of two major graphic works by Picasso after Cranach, the other being David and Bethsheba, also of 1949.
The story behind this work is that Picasso’s dealer, Daniel Kahnweiler, sent from Germany to Picasso a postcard reproducing Cranach’s masterpiece, Venus and Cupid. Using only the reproduction of this work by Cranach as his inspiration, Picasso created this magnificent aquatint.
