Pablo Picasso Experiments in Linogravure

This catalogue, which accompanies an exhibition held at Gagosian Gallery in Athens, features landmark linocut prints made by Pablo Picasso between 1959 and 1963. Pablo Picasso restlessly explored the medium of the print throughout his life, employing many techniques including lithography, etching, drypoint, and monotype. By the late 1950s, he was spending most of his time in the south of France, and the distance between him and his Parisian printers became increasingly difficult for smooth production. He turned his attention to lino-cutting, a very direct way of working whereby a design is cut into a sheet of linoleum using a knife, chisel, or gouge. His first linocut was a simple black-and-white print, but by 1959 he was using the technique as a complete means of expression. His subjects ranged from Jacqueline Roque, his muse, wife, and constant companion, to Old Master portraits in which he pays homage to El Greco.

Donald H. Karshan is a print expert, curator, collector, and founder of the Museum of Graphic Art, New York.