Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)


Femme Endormie (Bloch 1083; Baer 1319 IV.B.a) Linocut printed in colours, 1962, on Arches wove paper, signed and numbered 42/50 in pencil, printed by Arnéra, Vallauris, published by Louise Leiris, Paris, the full sheet, with a deckle edge at right, in very good conditionBlock 270 x 350mm., Sheet 443 x 626mm.
|Picasso explored the technique of linocutting in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This print was executed in 1962 when he was 81. Always innovative and keen to experiment, Picasso tried a different approach to the technique which required great skill. Rather than using different blocks for each colour, he used one block, printing the lightest colour, then cutting further into the block and printing successively to the darker colours to build up the image.Picasso follows an established artistic tradition of portraying a sleeping nude presented for contemplation but unaware of the viewer's gaze, which recalls works such as Ingres's Odalisque à l'Esclave.The model was Picasso's second wife Jacqueline Roque, whom he had met at Vallauris and married in 1961. His general appreciation of the female form, displayed in the sensuous lines of her body and the relaxed pose, is therefore given a more personal touch in this image.