Picasso at Notre Dame de Vie: Innovation in the Final Years
Created in 1966, this work emerged from Picasso's final and perhaps most introspective artistic chapter, his years at the "Notre Dame de Vie" villa in Mougins. By this time, the 85 year-old artist had largely withdrawn from public life, turning his home into a secluded fortress of creativity where he worked with frantic, obsessive energy to race against time. This period is defined by the "Musketeer" theme, swashbuckling, bearded men who served as surrogates for the artist himself, and a heavy reliance on the linocut medium. Living just miles from his printer Hidalgo Arnéra in Vallauris, Picasso found that linoleum allowed him to work quickly and fluidly without the cumbersome equipment required for etching or lithography, making it the perfect medium for his immediate, stream-of-consciousness expression during these twilight years.
The Portrait d'Homme (1966) is significant not just for its bold imagery, but for its use of the experimental "linogravure rincée" (rinsed linocut) technique, a radical variation on traditional printing. Unlike a standard linocut where the image is formed by ink sitting on top of the paper, this piece was created using a "resist" method. Picasso and Arnéra would print the block in a greasy white or cream ink, and then brush the entire sheet with black India ink (encre de Chine). The sheet was then literally "rinsed" in a shower; the black ink would stain the bare paper but be repelled by the greasy white ink of the image. The result is a print that looks remarkably like an original ink wash drawing or a brush painting, creating a fluid, organic texture that defies the rigid, hard-edged look typically associated with the linocut block. Given this unique process, each print made from the linoleum block has a different appearance and there are several versions where the “frame” around the image varies.
- Artist: Pablo Picasso
- Title: Portrait d’Homme
- Year: 1966
- Category: Original & Limited Edition
- Medium: Original Linocut
- Edition: 110/150
- Signature: Hand Signed
- Frame Size: 22 ½” x 25 ¾”
- Paper Size: 15” x 17”
- Image Size: 11 ¼” x 14”
- Paper Type: Vélin d’Arches
- Engraver: Pablo Picasso
- Printer: Hidalgo Arnéra
- Publisher: Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
- Reference: Bloch 1230, Geiser-Baer 1848, Cramer 134, Orozco 228
- Condition: Excellent Condition with strong and clear colors. Unblemished pencil signature. No existence of foxing or acid burn. No evidence of restoration or repair. Framed in museum-quality archival backing and matting. Preserved with anti-reflection Optium Museum Acrylic, featuring 99% UVA/ UVB blocking, excellent color transmission, Anti static, and shatter resistance.
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