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Between March and October 1968 Picasso, for the first time in his artistic career, dedicated his work exclusively to the production of prints. For 204 days he worked feverishly to produce what has become known as La Suite 347, a series of etchings which constitutes the greatest testimony to the artist's highly inventive mature style. Picasso was able to dedicate his time so exclusively to etching thanks to the presence of the brothers Aldo and Piero Crommelynck, who had set up their studio in an old bakery near Picasso's villa near Mougins, Notre-Dame-de-Vie. Trained by the brilliant Parisian printer Roger Lacourière, the Crommelyncks were able to accommodate Picasso's exacting technical demands as the artist pushed and challenged accepted printing practices. La Suite 347 has been likened to the artist's personal diary over this period of prodigious creativity. The successive entries, each compulsively dated and serialised, read like a sprawling epic novel. Part confessional, part fantastical, Picasso unashamedly illustrates his experiences and desires in an effort to leave as complete a documentation of himself and his imagination as possible. 'Of course, one never knows what's going to come out, but as soon as the drawing gets underway, a story or an idea is born, and that's it. I spend hour after hour while I draw, observing my creatures and thinking about the mad things they're up to, basically, it's my way of writing fiction.' (Roberto Otero, Forever Picasso: An Intimate Look at his Last Years, New York, 1974, p. 170) The following section (lots 215-392) presents a selection of plates featuring familiar characters and recurring themes from the series' rich narrative. Picasso, in his varying guises as artist, faun, jester and buffoon guides us through the circus, pageants, antique tableaux and mythological exploits. The series' two most celebrated themes, La Celestine and Raphaël et la Fornarina are included in their entirety. Visit www.christie's.com for images of every lot in the series. In our sale in London on 20th September we shall be offering a second selection from the series, the two sales combined constituting the complete Suite 347.

Pablo Picasso

Picasso, son Oeuvre, et son Public, from Séries 347 (B. 1481; Ba. 1496 VII Bb1)

Details

Pablo Picasso
Picasso, son Oeuvre, et son Public, from Séries 347 (B. 1481; Ba. 1496 VII Bb1)
etching, 1968, on wove, signed in pencil, numbered 27/50 (there were also 17 artist's proofs), published by Galerie L. Leiris, Paris, 1969, with wide margins, a deckle edge above and below, a crease at the left sheet edge, some soft handling creases in the lower margin, otherwise in very good condition
P. 392 x 564 mm., S. 563 x 716 mm.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

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