Pablo Picasso

PABLO PICASSO (Málaga, 1881 – Mougins, France, 1973).
“Picasso’s Sketchbook: La Coruña, 1894–1895.”
Barcelona, Editorial Gustavo Gili, S.A.
Facsimile edition of Picasso’s youth photo album, with original album and case.
Copy No. 319.
One page is missing from the album.
Measurements: 14.5 x 20 x 3 cm.

Facsimile edition of the sketchbook created by Pablo Picasso during his time in La Coruña, between 1894 and 1895—decisive years in his early artistic development. The set reproduces one of the artist’s youth sketchbooks, dating from the period when Picasso lived in La Coruña with his family and received artistic instruction from his father, José Ruiz Blasco. In these early pages, one can already see the confidence of his line work, his direct observation, and his capacity for graphic synthesis—qualities that would characterize his later development.

The copy retains its original presentation, including the facsimile sketchbook, the explanatory album, and the case labeled “Gustavo Gili.” Beyond its bibliographic value, the piece offers insight into a fundamental phase of Picasso’s biography: the period prior to his arrival in Barcelona, when the young artist was consolidating a remarkably precocious academic style that would serve as the foundation for his later formal breakthroughs.

Picasso is one of the leading figures in 20th-century art. His work is held in major international museums, including the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, the Musée national Picasso-Paris, MoMA in New York, the Tate in London, and the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.