Original Hand Signed and Numbered Etching on Van Gelder Holland vellum paper
MARQUES:
This original etching is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Picasso" in the lower right margin.
It is hand numbered in pencil "73/99" in the lower left margin.
TAILLE:
Paper Size: 38 x 50 cm / 15 x 19.7 in
Plate Size: 19.5 x 28 cm / 7.7 x 11 in
The work was printed in a limited edition of 99 impressions by Louis Fort, Paris.
It was published by Ambroise Vollard, Paris, in 1931.
This etching was made as an illustration to a work by Balzac titled 'Le Chef d’Oeuvre Inconnu'. The publication consisted of 12 etchings by Picasso and a wood engraving by Georges Aubert after a drawing by Picasso. It was Ambroise Vollard who asked Picasso to illustrate Balzac's text in 1926 and Albert Bernard, a friend of Vollard’s who wrote the preface to the book.
Very good condition. Very light discoloration from former matting. Signature and numbering slightly smudged.
Bloch, Georges, 1968, Pablo Picasso: Tome I, Catalogue of the printed graphic work 1904-1967, Berne Editions Kornfeld et Klipstein. Reference: Bloch 83 ; Baer 124.b.2