Pablo Picasso | Selections from the Vollard Suite

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P U C K E R G A L L E RY • B O S T O N
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Minotaure Aveugle Guidé par

Une Petite Fille au Pigeon, 1934

Etching on Montval paper

with Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
9 5/16 x 11 3/4”
Bloch 224, Baer 436 IV B.d.
 Pablo Picasso
Picasso’s Life
Pablo Picasso is best known as one of the most
influential painters in the history of art. Born in 1881
in Málaga, Spain, Picasso was the son of academic
painter José Ruiz y Blasco and exhibited artistic
talent at an early age. This talent was encouraged
and developed at Barcelona’s academy of fine arts,
La Lonja, in 1985. Picasso’s first exhibition took place
in Barcelona in 1900. Soon after, in 1901, the artist
relocated to Paris where he met art dealer, critic, and
collector Ambroise Vollard as well as Max Jacob and
André Breton.
Picasso’s oeuvre can be broken down into a number of
different periods. The Blue Period began in 1901, lasted
through 1904, and was followed by the Rose Period
(1905) and a group of works influenced by African
art. Cubism followed (ca. 1908-1911), evolving from
an Analytic phase to its Synthetic phase (beginning in
1912–13) and it was during this period that Picasso
was most significant in the radical re-structuring of the
way that a work of art constructs its meaning. In 1916,
the artist began to collaborate on ballet and theatrical
productions. Soon thereafter, his work was character-
ized by elements of neoclassicism and a renewed interest
in drawing and figural representation.
In 1918, Picasso married dancer Olga Khokhlova and
together they lived in Paris and traveled frequently.
From 1925 to the 1930s Picasso was involved to a
certain degree with the Surrealists, and in the fall
of 1931 he became especially interested in making
sculpture. In 1932, with large exhibitions at the Galeries
Georges Petit in Paris and the Kunsthaus in Zürich, and
the publication of the first volume of Christian Zervos’s
catalogue raisonné, Picasso’s fame increased markedly.
| Selections from the Vollard Suite
By 1936 the Spanish Civil War had profoundly affected
Picasso, the expression of which culminated in his
painting Guernica (1937, Museo Nacional Centro de
Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid). Picasso’s association with
the Communist Party began in 1944. From the late
1940s he lived in the south of France. Among the
enormous number of exhibitions that were held during
the artist’s lifetime, those at the Museum of Modern
Art, New York, in 1939 and the Musée des Arts
Décoratifs, Paris, in 1955 were most significant. In 1961
the artist married Jacqueline Roque, and they moved to
Mougins, France, where Picasso continued his prolific
work in painting, drawing, prints, ceramics, and
sculpture until his death in 1973.
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The History of the Vollard Suite
Picasso’s long relationship with Ambroise Vollard began
soon after his move to Paris in 1901 when Vollard
arranged the artist’s first Paris show. Vollard was an
influential and intuitive art dealer who also worked
with Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and Pierre-Auguste
Renoir.
In 1936, Picasso agreed to give Vollard a group of 97
printing plates created since 1930 and the rights to
publish them in exchange for two paintings, a Cézanne
and a Renior. In early 1937, Picasso completed three
portraits of Vollard, making the completed suite a
group of one hundred plates.
With Vollard’s sudden death in 1939, the project was
interrupted and the completed works remained in
his apartment until the mid-1940s when they were
purchased by print dealer Henri Petiet. In the 1950s,
Petiet began to pay Picasso to sign some of the prints,
sending batches of one or two hundred prints at a time.
 This arrangement ended in the late 1960s when the
artist began to work on a new series, leaving many
prints unsigned. Very few editions were actually sold
as a complete set and, of those that were, many have
since been broken up.
Imagery in the Vollard Suite
Since Picasso’s original intention for these works was
not for them to be combined into a suite and the plates
were only brought together for Ambroise Vollard, there
isn’t a single theme that dominates the prints. It can,
however, be argued that most of the one hundred
visually vibrant and emotionally incisive works are
either blatantly or surreptitiously autobiographical.
A large number of the works in the Vollard Suite are
characterized by Neoclassical elements and subject
matter. This theme was probably inspired by Picasso’s
travels to Rome, Florence, and Naples. As a result
of these trips and his 1930s illustrations for Ovid’s
| Metamorphoses, many of the works are mythological.
The Minotaur repeatedly appears in the Suite in various
states of emotion, often acting as an alter ego for the
artist.
A second theme in many of the plates, particularly
those created between March and May of 1933, is the
sculptor in his studio which directly reflects the artist’s
1931 purchase of a chateau near Gisors, where he
devoted himself to sculpture. Often classical statues
surround the sculptor in these prints, once again
exploring his interest in the
Neoclassical.
Of course, one of the most present themes throughout
the Suite is the women with whom Picasso was
intimately involved, particularly his mistress Marie-
Thérèse Walter. These relationships are evident in
most of the plates in the Vollard Suite, illustrating the
connections and competitions that Picasso had with
the women and the conflicts that the artist imagined
between the women.
Picasso’s Printing Techniques
Picasso’s influence on twentieth century art extends
beyond his painting career – the artist was a very
accomplished and inspired printmaker.
Printer Roger Lacourière was responsible for the
printing of all of the Picasso plates in the Vollard Suite
and also taught the artist a number of printing and
engraving techniques. Most of the intaglio prints in the
suite are etchings or drypoint on watermarked Montval
paper, usually in editions of 260.
Drypoint is a method of printmaking in which a sharp
instrument is used to scratch a groove directly into a
metal plate. When the metal plate is inked and paper is
pressed against the surface, the resulting line has a rich
velvety quality. As this process is repeated and the plate
is worn, the lines become less defined in later prints.
When etching, the plate is first covered with an acid-
resistant ground and the image is incised into the
ground with an etching needle. When the plate is dipped
into acid, the solution only bites into the incised areas.
When the plate is inked, the ink is captured in the bitten
areas and, when pressed into paper, the incised design is
transferred to the paper.
Picasso also used aquatint in latter plates of the Suite –
a more graphic method of etching which produces a
richly textured result. Rather than scratch the ground
away, the printmaker paints an acid-resistant substance
onto the plate and repeatedly dips the plate into acid.
The longer the plate has been submerged, the deeper
the acid bites and the more ink the plate will hold,
creating a darker imprint. By covering different areas
at different stages, there is a variation in the darkness
of the print. The resulting images are less linear than
etchings and drypoint prints.
R
 Pablo Picasso dominated 20th-century European
art and was central to the development of the
image of the modern artist. Episodes of his
personal life were recounted in intimate detail,
his comments on art were published, and his
working methods recorded on film. Painting was
his principal medium, but his sculptures, prints,
theatre designs, ceramics and cinematic endeavors
all had an impact on their respective disciplines.
Even artists not influenced by the style of his work
had to come to terms with its implications. During
his long life Picasso instigated or responded to most
of the artistic dialogues taking place in Europe
and North America, registering and transforming
the developments that he found most interesting.
His marketability as a unique and enormously
productive artistic personality, together with the
distinctiveness of his work and methodology, have
made him the most extensively exhibited and
discussed artist of the 20th-century. The Vollard
Suite is an integral part of the sizeable and diverse
body of work that Picasso created in his lifetime,
illustrating his impressive mastery of printmaking
techniques, his attention to the multiple meanings
of a work, and his understanding of the potential
power of art.
– Kate Lincoln
Pucker Gallery, Boston

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Sculpteur avec un Groupe Sculpte

(Hommage a Carpeaux), 1934

Etching on Montval paper with

Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
8 7/8 x 12 5/16”
Bloch 217, Baer 421 B.d.

This exhibition is presented in cooperation with John Szoke Editions, New York.
|

Le Repos du Minotaure:
Champagne et Amante, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
7 5/8 x 10 9/16”
Bloch 190, Baer 349 B.d.
Femme au Voile, Modele Assis
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et Tete de Rembrandt, 1934

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 7/8 x 7 3/4”
Bloch 215, Baer 414 B.d.
| Femme nue Assise Devant un
Rideau, 1931

Etching with a Picasso

watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
12 1/8 x 8 3/4”
Bloch 137, Baer 202 B.d.
Homme Dévoilant une
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Femme, 1931

Drypoint on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Signed
Edition of 260
14 3/8 x 11 3/4”
Bloch 138, Baer 203 II B.d.
10| Femme nue Devant une
Statue, 1931

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
12 1/4 x 8 11/16”
Bloch 139, Baer 205 B.d.
 |11

Sculpteur au Repos avec son

Modele Anemones et Petit Torse
(Le Repos du Sculpteur Devant
le Petit Torse), 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
7 5/8 x 10 1/2”
Bloch 162, Baer 315 B.d.
12|

Sculpteurs, Modèles et
Sculpture, 1933

Etching on Montval paper, Signed

Edition of 50 with large margins
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 149, Baer 301 B.d.
Deux Femmes Regardant une Tete
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Sculptée (Duex Modèles Vetus), 1933

Etching on Montval paper

with Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 150, Baer 302 B.d.
14| Sculpteur, Modèle, Sculpture et
Poisson Rouge, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Montgolfier watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 50 with large margins
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 152, Baer 304 II B.c.
 |15

Vieux Sculpteur et Jeune Modele Avec

le Portrait Sculpted du Modele, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Montgolfier watermark, Signed
Edition of 50 with large margins
7 5/8 x 10 1/2”
Bloch 172, Baer 325 B.c.
16| Jeune Sculpteur Finissant
un Platre, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 156, Baer 309 B.d.
Sculpteur au Repos avec Modèle
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Demasque et sas Representation
Sculptee, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 159, Baer 312 B.d.
18| Sculpteur au Repos avec
Marie-Therese et sa Representation
en Venus Pudique, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Montgolfier watermark, Signed
Edition of 50 with large margins
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 160, Baer 313 B.c.
Rembrandt Tenant par la Main une
|19
Jeune Femme au Voile, 1934

Etching on Montval paper, Unsigned

Edition of 50 with large margins
10 15/16 x 7 13/16”
Bloch 214, Baer 413 B.c.
20| Flûtiste et Jeune Fille au
Tambourin, 1934

Etching and drypoint on Montval paper

with Picasso watermark, Signed
Edition of 260
10 15/16 x 7 13/16”
Bloch 213, Baer 412 B.d.
 |21

Garcon Pensif Veillant une Dormeuse

à la Lumiere d’une Chandelle, 1934

Etching, drypoint and aquatint

on Montval paper with
Picasso watermark, Signed
Edition of 260
9 5/16 x 11 11/16”
Bloch 226, Baer 440 III. B.d.
22| Femme au Fauteuil Songeuse
la Joue Sur la Main, 1934

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 15/16 x 7 13/16”
Bloch 218, Baer 423 B.d.
Sculpteur et Modèle se
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Regardant Dans un Miroir Cale
Sur un Autoportrait Sculpte, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Signed
Edition of 260
14 7/16 x 11 3/4”
Bloch 178, Baer 331 B.d.
24| Marie-Therese Regardant son
Corps Sculpte, 1933

Etching on Monval paper with

Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 9/16 x 7 9/16”
Bloch 186, Baer 345 IV B.d.
 |25

Harpye a Tete de Taureau et Quatre

Petites Filles Sur une Tour
Surmontee d’un Drapeau Noir, 1934

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
9 5/16 x 11 5/8”
Bloch 229, Baer 444 B.d.
26|

Minotaure et Remme Derrière un

Rideau, 1933

Etching on Montval paper, Unsigned

Edition of 260
7 5/8 x 10 1/2”
Bloch 199, Baer 367 B.d.
 |27

Autoportrait Sous Trois Formes:

Peintre Couronne, Sculpteur en
Buste et Minotaure Amoureux, 1933

Etching on Montval paper, Signed

Edition of 50 with large margins
11 3/4 x 14 1/2”
Bloch 191, Baer 350 B.c.
28| Au Bain Femme au Chapeau a
Fleurs et Femme Drapée Dans
une Serviette, 1934

Etching on Montval paper with

Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 15/16 x 7 13/16”
Bloch 210, Baer 408 B.d.
Jeune Bacchus au Tambourin
|29
avec une Bacchante, 1934

Etching with Picasso

watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 15/16 x 7 13/16”
Bloch 212, Baer 411 B.d.
 Sculpteur et con Modele avec un
Buste sur une Colonne, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Montgolfier watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 50 with large margins
7 5/8 x 10 1/2”
Bloch 169, Baer 322 B.c.

30|

Le Repos du Sculpteur, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
7 5/8 x 10 1/2”
Bloch 171, Baer 324 B.d.
Scupteur avec son Modèle et
|31
sa Sculpture, 1933

Etching on Montval paper with

Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
10 1/2 x 7 5/8”
Bloch 154, Baer 307 B.d.
 Pablo Picasso | Selections from the Vollard Suite
19 July – 1 September 2008
Opening Reception:
19 July 3:00-6:00 pm

Credits
Design: Deborah McSorley Kery
Editors: Kate Lincoln and Destiny M. Barletta
Images courtesy of John Szoke Editions, New York

© 2008, Pucker Art Publications

Printed in China by Cross Blue Overseas Printing Co.

Cover Image:
Marie-Thérèse Considérant son
Effifie Surréaliste Sculptée, 1933
Etching on Montval paper with a
Vollard watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
Vieux Sculpteur Crec Avec Modele Vase Aux Trois Anemones 10 9/16 x 7 9/16”
et Autoportraits Sculpte (Le Repos Du Sculpteur IV), 1933 Bloch 187, Baer 346 B.d.
Etching on Montval paper with Picasso watermark, Unsigned
Edition of 260
7 5/8 x 10 1/2”
Bloch 174, Baer 327 B.d.
Bloch 174 Baer 327 B.d.

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