Lot Essay
Linocut, as a technique, is closely allied to woodcut. In both of these techniques a flat-surfaced matrix is cut or gouged away until the desired design stands above the general level. This remaining flat surface bearing the design is then inked and printed. Picasso had discovered as early as 1939 that linoleum, a floor covering made from canvas coated with a thick layer of oxidized linseed oil, was ideal as a matrix for printmaking capable of conveying bold design.
After the artist's move to the South of France in the mid-1950s (see note to Lot 8), he turned more and more to this technique which, with characteristic flair, he made his own. In 1956 he made linocuts from two blocks, each of one color, which over-printed one another and in 1958 he made a linocut in an unprecedented five colors from five separate blocks: Buste de femme d'aprs Cranach le jeune (B. 859; Baer 1053). However, he found the number of blocks and their registration a constant source of frustration.
To combat this difficulty, Picasso literally re-invented the technique of linocut. Instead of many blocks he employed only one, which was passed through the press a series of times to overprint itself. With Tte de femme, Portrait stylis de Jacqueline the uncut block was first entirely inked in cream-white and printed onto blank sheets of Arches. Picasso then began work with the gouge on the overall design which was printed in yellow as a second state. After some of the design was removed from the block, the third, red state was printed and after further gouging away, the final black overprinting of the fourth, final state was applied. This final editioned state was published by Galerie Louise Leiris in 1963.
After the artist's move to the South of France in the mid-1950s (see note to Lot 8), he turned more and more to this technique which, with characteristic flair, he made his own. In 1956 he made linocuts from two blocks, each of one color, which over-printed one another and in 1958 he made a linocut in an unprecedented five colors from five separate blocks: Buste de femme d'aprs Cranach le jeune (B. 859; Baer 1053). However, he found the number of blocks and their registration a constant source of frustration.
To combat this difficulty, Picasso literally re-invented the technique of linocut. Instead of many blocks he employed only one, which was passed through the press a series of times to overprint itself. With Tte de femme, Portrait stylis de Jacqueline the uncut block was first entirely inked in cream-white and printed onto blank sheets of Arches. Picasso then began work with the gouge on the overall design which was printed in yellow as a second state. After some of the design was removed from the block, the third, red state was printed and after further gouging away, the final black overprinting of the fourth, final state was applied. This final editioned state was published by Galerie Louise Leiris in 1963.