Lot 500 D

Lithograph on hand made wove paper 64.5 x 49.5 cm (66 x 49.8 cm), framed under glass. Signed and numbered in ink to the top. Proof 35 of the edition of 50 copies and 5 épreuves d'artiste. - Slightly browned, the signature slightly faded.

Bloch 595; Mourlot 164

This fine, expressive lithograph depicts the painter Françoise Gilot, who Picasso first met in 1943. He made his first lithographs of her in 1945 in the studio of the Mourlot brothers. Picasso's cooperation with this Paris workshop formed an important phase in his artistic career, especially since lithography was to become of more interest to him in the future. The artist did not merely rely on the traditional technique, but was always experimenting with new ones in order to defy the ordinary and create bold and unconventional effects. From 1946 to 1954, Françoise Gilot was not only to become Picasso's favourite model, but also his partner and the mother of his children Claude and Paloma. This lithograph was made on 8 March 1949. Mourlot referred to this high quality piece, as well as to the 'Buste au fond étoilé' made on 7 April 1949 (cf. Mourlot 163) as "au point de vue métier une réussite remarquable" (Fernand Mourlot, Picasso Lithographe, vol. II, Monte Carlo 1950, p. 179). This was probably in reference to the new brush technique using lavis and gouache on lithograph paper blotted on stone. Picasso's immensely creative oeuvre contains many examples of a theme being varied, or repeated in differing stages of development. This way he was able to counteract or reinterpret what he had already created, and these works should not be seen as corrections, but rather as two equal versions of a theme.