Graphics, limited edition of 200 pieces, on French paper.
Each print is individually numbered.
Inscription in pencil l.d.: 132/200, p.d.: facsimile of "Picasso".
Dimensions: 50 x 70 cm (entire sheet).
At the bottom l.d.: dry seal of the publisher.
On the back: typographical description.
Condition: very good
The work is currently on display at the Albertina Museum in Vienna (last photo) in the exhibition From Monet to Picasso.
Picasso's works from the Blue Period primarily depict people on the margins of society: the poor, the lonely, the suffering. They seem to reflect Picasso's financial and emotional situation at a time when he had yet to gain public recognition. He moved to Paris in 1904 and lived in the most impoverished conditions in Montmartre, a neighborhood of extreme social groups. Elongated, emaciated figures with angular limbs and emaciated faces are characteristic of the works he created at the time. A key work of this period is the 1904 etching A Thrifty Meal, a technically and artistically impressive portrait of an unfortunate couple behind a bottle of wine. The black and white print heightens the isolation and hopelessness of the two figures.
Picasso also steadily developed his style in his printed works. From 1919 to 1930 he worked with lithography, then in 1945 he returned to this medium , exhausting all its possibilities. He perfected the means of expression in terms of craftsmanship. Rather than relying on the simple line drawing of his earlier years, Picasso began to strive for a more painterly shorthand, achieving a brush-drawing effect by applying paint to larger areas of the surface. This is especially true of his linocuts and aquatints. At the same time, he drew on traditional forms of expression when he used a pointed needle or scraper to scratch white lines and areas beyond the black ground.
