Pablo Ruiz Picasso

PABLO RUIZ PICASSO (Málaga, 1881–Mougins, 1973).
“Musketeer and Odalisque-Medusa,” from the “Suite 156” series.
Etching, print no. 42/50.
Signed on the plate and inscribed in pencil.
Measurements: 27.5 x 35 cm (print); 51 x 59 cm (frame).

“Suite 156” consists of a collection of one hundred fifty-six prints derived from an equal number of copper plates that Picasso engraved when he was over ninety years old. His advanced age is evident in these works through an iconography that consistently depicts an elderly Picasso. The prints do not form a cohesive whole, but they all share a retrospective look at his life and work, as well as a nod to the artist’s visual memory. This is why themes such as the circus—which Picasso frequented in his youth—the female nude, with images of brothels, and his debt to painters he admired are evident.

The creation of Suite 156 unfolded in three phases. From January through May 25, 1970, Picasso engraved more than fifty copper plates. In the second phase, between February 25 and June 16 of the following year, he produced nearly a hundred plates, including thirty-eight dedicated to the image of Degas. Finally, in March 1972, he produced three more copper plates, two of which were for Suite 156. Fifty numbered copies of this series, printed in its entirety by the brothers Piero and Aldo Crommelynck, were produced. The only three complete sets of Suite 156 in existence are held by the Musée Picasso in Paris, a private collection, and the Fundación Bancaixa.

As the co-founder of Cubism alongside Braque, Picasso’s painting marked a turning point in the history of art. He began his studies in 1895 at the Provincial School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, and just two years later held his first solo exhibition at the café “Els Quatre Gats.” After several short stays in Paris, Picasso settled permanently in the French capital in 1904. Following his Blue and Rose periods, which took place in the early years of the century, the painter began his experiments with geometric forms in 1906, during a stay in Lleida. A year later, he began painting “The Young Ladies of Avinyó Street,” and in 1909 he met Braque, marking the beginning of his Cubist period. During the second decade, he developed his classical style and created his famous set designs for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. In 1936, he was appointed director of the Prado Museum by the government of the Spanish Republic, and a year later he painted “Guernica.” Definitive international recognition came in 1939, following the retrospective dedicated to him by MoMA in New York. Over the following decades, retrospective exhibitions were held in his honor around the world, in Rome, Milan, Paris, Cologne, and New York, among many other cities. His works are represented in the world’s most important museums, such as the Metropolitan, MoMA, and the Guggenheim in New York; the Hermitage in St. Petersburg; the National Gallery in London; and the Reina Sofía in Madrid.