Artworks by Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is widelyconsidered the greatest artist of the 20th Century; he was also itsgreatest graphic artist. His published approximately 2,000 different imagespulled from metal, stone and other media. The cataloguer of Picasso's prints,Georges Bloch, has observed: "Picasso is truly revealed by following thegenesis of his work from one date to another. All his phases and styles, whichwe use as landmarks, are in reality only successive stages of a continuity thatconstitutes the phenomenon of Picasso."

Picasso spent the first fortyyears of his work in prints exploring the various intaglio media, experimentingonly occasionally with lithography, but in the latter part of 1945 the artisttook up residence in the Mourlot studio on the Rue de Chabrol, Paris and beganprinting his finest lithographs with the help of this master printer.Lithography offered Picasso the chance to rework an image on the same printingsurface and so preserve the complete evolution of the composition.

Picasso's graphic art evolvedfrom his early association with such master printers as Eugene Delatre, LouisForn and above all, Roger Lacouriere. Picasso rapidly discovered his owntechnical and visual vocabulary however and after acquiring his own press hewas able to explore the secrets of printmaking in his own fashion. Thisconstant experimentation with new materials and techniques adds anotherexciting dimension to the appreciation of his prints.

The final triumph of Picassothe printmaker was his development of the linocut. Picasso's invention in 1959of the one-block technique of linocut printing enabled him to achievebrilliantly and richly colored works on paper. Like wood block printing thelinoleum is cut away from the flat surface of the block except those areasthat, when inked and printed, articulate the components of the composition.Softer, more supple and lighter in weight than wood, linoleum can be cut,gouged and slashed with greater speed and much less effort than wood. Thismaterial and process suited Picasso's temperament well.

The most important group ofprints produced by Picasso was the Vollard Suite, published by the highlyinfluential French publisher, Ambrose Vollard. This suite published in 1933 andcontaining dozens of imprinted images, is the greatest formal group of printsproduced in the 20th Century.