Pablo Picasso

Figure

GMT Galerie Marc Triebold

Date 1947

Period 20th century

Dimension 74 x 56 cm (29¹/₈ x 22 inches)

Framed dimension cm (39³/₈ x 31¹/₂ x 1⁵/₈ inches)

This is one of Picasso's most important and rarest lithographs. Only 5 copies of ‘Figure’ were printed, which were shared between Picasso himself and the head of the Mourlot printing house, Fernand Mourlot. Hachmeister was able to acquire one of Fernand Mourlot's copies because he was a friend of his. 

Hachmeister was referring to Castor Seibel, as it was this collector who brought the work from Paris to Germany. That was in the 1980s. Seibel declared it that way because he was obviously anxious and didn't want to have any problems at customs. Hachmeister was friends with both of them and confirmed this to me. He also confirmed to me that the illustration in his 2004 catalogue Paraphrases and Variations was printed mirror-inverted on page 39. However, he found this work in Mourlot's catalogue no. 88 and the inscription in pencil was also written by Fernand Mourlot. There are still one more copy in the Picasso Musuem Malaga, Spain and one in the Picasso Museum Münster, Germany.

Zincography, zinc etching, zinc high etching or chemigraphy is the name given to a process invented by H. W. Eberhard in Magdeburg around 1804 using zinc plates instead of expensive, heavy lithographic stones. Initially, the zinc plate was treated like a lithographic stone and used in the lithographic printing process in the lithographic press. From 1850, the process was used and further developed in the Barbizon School by Charles Emile Jacque and Karl Bodmer for illustrations in books and magazines. This technique was also known as gravures en relief or procédé compte.

5 artist reserved proofs, no edition

Mirror-dated in the plate lower right by an unknown hand: dimanche 20.4.47.

Catalogue Raisonné Mourlot Picasso Lithographs: No. 88. Full page image p 69.

Date: 1947

Period: 20th century

Signature: Not signed as all 5 existing prints of this subject. Dedication by Fernand Moulot on the reverse: Epreuve d'exposition pour Castor fm. This refers to the collector Castor Seibel.

Dimension: 74 x 56 cm (29¹/₈ x 22 inches)

Provenance: Ferdinand Mourlot, Paris; Collection Castor Seibel, Bonn, Germany; Galerie Hachmeister, Münster - Private collection Switzerland (2004) - Private Collection Switzerland

Literature: Literature: Gauss, Ulrike (ed.): Pablo Picasso. Die Lithographie. Graphikmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster. Die Sammlung Huizinga, Ostfildern-Ruit 2000, nr. 88. Weitere Exemplare im Picassomuseum  Malaga, Spanien und im Kunstmuseum Picasso in Münster, Deutschland.

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GMT Galerie Marc Triebold

19th to 21st Century paintings, sculptures, works on paper and prints. German Expressionism, Modern, internationally significant Contemporary Art, Katsushika Hokusai

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