Le Cocu Magnifique (The Magnificent Cuckold), a tragic satire that addresses themes of jealousy, marked Belgian playwright Fernand Crommelynck’s (1885-1970) initial major success in 1921. Crommelynck was also father to Aldo and Piero Crommelynck, Picasso’s printers. The title alludes to the cuckoo bird, which lays its eggs in other birds’ nests, metaphorically reflecting the play’s focus on love and infidelity.
In Picasso’s last decade, the Crommelynck brothers created around 750 unique intaglio prints, making up 45% of his total intaglio works. They transported copper plates between their makeshift workshop in an abandoned bakery near Picasso’s home in Mougins and their main studio in Paris along what they called the "copper road."
These original etchings, some with aquatint and drypoint represent a lifetime of mastery of the medium and a joint effort of the most successful artist of the 20th century and his dedicated print shop.
This portfolio features 12 images selected from Picasso’s series of sixty-five original engravings created between November 6 and December 19, 1966. The limited edition portfolio took two years to prepare and complete, with Picasso personally refining the prints throughout the process. The final result, limited to just 200 unsigned copies and 30 signed suites, highlight the artist’s use of erotic motifs, dramatic line work, and aquatint technique. Reflecting characteristics common in his later oeuvre, the series often carries autobiographical undertones.
- Medium: Etching
- Edition: 161 of 200
- Signature: Unsigned
- Plate Size: 12.6" x 8.7" (22cm x 32.1cm)
- Paper Size: 11.4" x 15.55" (29cm x 39.5cm)
- Paper Type: Vélin de Rives, Richard de Bas
- Printer: Atelier Crommelynck, Mougins
- Publisher: Editions de l'Atelier Crommelynck, Paris, 1966-68
- Reference: Cramer: 140, Bloch: 1254
- Unframed: Contact us for a framing quote
Includes COA from Gold & Silver Pawn.
Pablo Picasso is one of the most widely known artists across all ages and backgrounds. Born in 1881, he took a very early interest in art, quickly losing any attention for academics. Without falling into contemporary schooling, Pablo ventured out on his own, painting what he observed around him. Picasso remains renowned for constantly reinventing himself, alternating between styles so drastically different from one another, that his life’s work seems to come from multiple talented artists as opposed to just one. He went through many stages or periods in his lifetime such as; Blue Period, Rose Period, Cubism, Classical Period and Surrealism. Each of those times represents a different emotional state for Picasso, which heavily influenced his art. He is quoted remembering what his mother told him when he was young, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the pope,” to which he later recalled, “Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”
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