Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
Title: Tete de femme de profile (s.9757)
A woman’s head in profile
Medium: Original drypoint Etching, Paris, about February 1905, on velin Van Gelder paper. This series was not signed or numbered.
Edition: 250 on Van Gelder Paper and 27 or 29 on Japan paper
Reference: Bloch, Georges. 1968-1979. Pablo Picasso, catalogue de l'oeuvre gravé et lithographié, 4 vol. Berne: Kornfeld and Klipstein. (Bloch 6)
Geiser, Bernhard and Brigitte Baer. 1986-1996. Picasso: Peintre-Graveur, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre gravé et des monotypes, 7 vols. Berne: Kornfeld. (7.B1)
Orozco's : Picasso 70 years of book illustration 3;
Note : This is a portrait of a woman known only as Madeleine, an artist's model and Picasso's lover during his early years in Paris. She appears in certain of his Blue period and Rose period works. This represents the latter, when his compositions became dreamlike and allegorical. In Pierre Daix’s book “PicassoL Life & Art” The author writes about how the artist showed him a copy of this etching: “Its Madelaine”, said Picasso, “I almost had a child with her. You imagine me with a sixty-four year old son!” At the time of writing this would have dated Picasso’s affair with our subject to 1904. The series of etchings, known as the Saltimbanques, consisted of a group of works all relating to the same theme. Picasso was a very young man when he completed these works but they are considered to be amongst the very best he ever made. The name of the series comes from the Italian words saltare, meaning "to leap," and banco, "bench," which refers to the stage on which the acrobats usually performed. Saltimbanques were the lowest order of acrobats. Although this etching is unrelated to this theme still it is considered part of the series having been made at the same time. Published by Ambroise Vollard, Paris, 1913
Printed by Louis Fort, Paris, France.
Public collections: MOMA, New York ; Minneapolis Institute of Art Collection; Arts Council of Great Britain Collection; Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco; The Art Gallery of South Australia
Size: 92 x 250 mms (Image size) ; 65.8 x 51.1 cms Paper size) ; 66 x 83 cos (Framed size)
Condition: Some minor staining on outer margins (top) not affecting image.
