This week sees the anniversary of the birth of Pablo Picasso, one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, born on 25th October, 1881. Picasso remained active, creating art, right up until his death at the remarkable age of 91, believing that his work sustained him and kept him young.
With a such an immense body of work which continues to transcend generations, it is not just the artist himself who has benefited from the beauty and vivacity of his work. Read on as we celebrate Picasso’s life and career with a selection of works available to view at Shapero Modern on New Bond Street.
Fumeur Barbu, 1964
Aquatint in colours on Auvergne Richard de Bas laid paper
In 1964, Picasso created a series of thirteen sugar-lift aquatints named the Fumeurs. This work is on Auvergne Richard de Bas laid paper, signed in paper and numbered 48 from the edition of 50.
Pierrot (Massine en Pierrot), 1918,
Etching on Imperial Japan paper
Etching, 1918, on Imperial Japan paper. A particularly fine and rare impression, signed and dedicated in pencil by Picasso: ‘Pour Galanis, ses amis bien reconnaissants Max Jacob et Picasso.’ The work is dedicated to Demetrios Galanis (1879-1966), the Greek artist and engraver who was a close friend of Picasso. It is one of only two copies recorded in Baer outside the numbered edition.
Tête de Femme, 1925
Lithograph on Japanese Imperial paper
In 1951, Picasso and Geneviève Laporte began an affair that lasted two years, during which the artist presented her with a number of his works, including this 1925 lithograph on Japanese Imperial paper.
By capturing the woman’s face in simultaneous profile and frontal view, Picasso challenges our perception of portraiture and reality. The viewer’s eye delights in the puzzle of this surreal, multi-faceted figure, built from elegant curving and intersecting lines.
David et Bethsabée (d’après Cranach), 1949
Lithograph on Velin d'Arches paper
This lithograph, created in 1949, is a unique proof, gifted by Picasso to Geneviève Laporte (1926-2012), with whom he had a relationship during the 1950s. Printed on Velin d’Arches paper, it is inscribed, dated and signed in red chalk at lower left: ‘Pour Geneviève Laporte (épreuve unique) 26.5.51 Picasso.’
In the late 1940s, Picasso entered what is often called his ‘old master period.’ Over the next decade he studied and reworked masterpieces of the past, reimagining them in his own visual language. This work is based on a painting by the German Renaissance painter and printmaker Lucas Cranach the Elder, and depicts the biblical King David gazing upon the beautiful Bathsheba as she bathes.
