45 linoleum plates by Picasso, with tissue guards (38 fullpage embossed color reproductions of the linocuts of Galerie Louise
Leiris, 2 double-page spreads in color and 4 color pages) Sheets
measure 12 x 14 inches (30,7 x 35.8 cm) and the image size is 10 1/2
x 12 3/4 inches (27 x 32,5 cm)
Print run: 520 copies for the Spanish edition. Double number for
the French and American editions.
Catalogues raisonnés: Cramer :
Not in Cramer
Comment:
"Picasso Linoleum Cuts: Bacchanals, Women, Bulls, and Bullfighters", book,
oblong folio with cloth slipcase, New York: Harry N. Abrams, copyright 1962 in
West Germany by Verlag Gerd Hatje, Stuttgart, with 45 original color plates of
works by Picasso, introduction by Wilhelm Boeck, 13" x 15 3/4".
It is unclear by what chance Picasso came to the technique of lino. As in the
previous year he had begun to paint portrait de l'Arlésienne with feathers of
pigeons collected on the floor of " La Californie ", his villa in Cannes, likewise -
which corresponds well to the habits of Picasso - he had to use engraving on
linoleum, abstraction made of artistic necessities, without any obvious reasoning
or meaning. Compared to other techniques, linocut is more direct and simpler,
giving the artist the ability to work without relying on the printers in Paris.
Initially, Picasso produced linogravures by cutting
a sheet of linoleum using a knife, chisel or gouge.
Gradually, he developed the technique,
simplifying it even further to a more sophisticated
level whereby he would recut a single surface to
attain a multicolored end result (instead of using
separate linoleum blocks for each color). From
1959 to 1962, Picasso made around 100
linogravures. The original Picasso linocuts were
hand-signed and sold by Gallerie Louise Leiris,
Paris, in an edition of 50. However, the original
linoleum block plates were destroyed during the
process of printing, because Picasso carved ever
deeper into the block for the application of each
separate color, so after the initial printing run they
could not be used again.
When one compares the T
