PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)

A peculiar mixture of geographic necessity and artistic curiosity led Picasso, at the age of 78, to turn away from etching and lithography, hitherto his favorite means of graphic expression, and take up linocutting, a technique he had all but ignored. Although linocuts were to form a relatively small part of Picasso's output as a printmaker (approximately 150 images from a total exceeding 2000), he was to produce some of his most oustanding compositions by this method, in a short burst of activity from 1958 to 1963.

Working with the help of a young printer from Vallauris named Arnèra, he worked on an interpretation of Lucas Cranach the Younger's 'Portrait of a Young Girl', inspired by a postcard of the subject sent to him by Daniel Henry Kahnweiler. The resulting work is the most important of the artist's color linocuts and is a virtuoso performance, using incredibly complicated technical skill to create an image of striking vitality.