Pablo Picasso

PABLO PICASSO (Malaga, 1881 - Mougins, 1973).
"The dream and the lie of Franco I and II", 1937.
Pair of etching and aquatint engravings on Montval paper, copy 662/850.
Hand numbered copy.
Signature stamped with stamp.
Provenance: Peter Brandes collection.
References: Bloch 297 and 298; Baer 615 and 616.
Measurements: 31 × 42.5 cm (plate); 38.5 × 57 cm (paper); 51 x 68.5 cm (frames).

Exceptional set belonging to the famous series "Dream and lie of Franco", made by Pablo Picasso in 1937 as one of his most direct and committed responses to the Spanish Civil War. Conceived in parallel to Guernica, this work is one of the most significant testimonies of the artist's political stance.

The composition is organized in a sequence of vignettes that evoke the language of popular prints, where Picasso develops a visual narrative of a satirical and deeply critical nature. Through a free and expressive stroke, the figure of Franco is subjected to a continuous deformation, giving rise to a grotesque iconography that alternates between the caricatured and the tragic.

Executed in etching, these plates stand out for their graphic immediacy and expressive intensity, elements that place the series among the most incisive works of Picasso's graphic production. Their original conception as a publication intended to raise funds for the Republican cause also reinforces their historical dimension and symbolic charge.

Due to its close relationship with Guernica, its relevance within the committed art of the 20th century and its consolidated presence in international museum collections, this series is considered one of the key works of Picasso's graphic production.

Pablo Picasso is one of the leading figures of 20th century art and an essential protagonist in the development of the avant-garde, especially as co-founder of Cubism. His extraordinarily extensive and diverse oeuvre encompasses painting, sculpture, ceramics and graphic work. He is represented in the collections of the world's leading museums, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Musée Picasso in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Tate Modern in London and the Centre Pompidou.