Pablo Picasso
"Tête de femme n°1. Portrait de Dora Maar"
Lower right inscribed and signed by the artist in pencil "Bon à tirer / Picasso", artist proof
Colour aquatint, scraper and drypoint on laid paper with watermark "Picasso"
29.8x23.7 cm, plate mark; 44.4x34 cm, sheet size
Artist proof.
The four colour plates of this portrait of Dora Maar, Picasso’s companion, were created in March and April 1939. The red plate bears the date "20.4.39" In drypoint.
In 1939 Pablo Picasso created a series of six colour etchings, executed predominantly in the elaborate aquatint technique, portraying his companion Dora Maar (1907–1997). Within his graphic oeuvre, this group of works occupies a special position, as Picasso produced only a few prints in this demanding technique. The present sheet is considered one of the most beautiful and at the same time most mature portraits of Dora Maar from this series. The so-called "Bon à tirer" copies—sample proofs approved as printing templates—were given by Picasso to his Parisian printer Roger Lacourière (1892–1966). The actual edition remained unpublished during the artist’s lifetime and was only discovered posthumously in his estate. Until then, only a few trial proofs were known on the art market. The print was made using several copper plates in red, ochre yellow, dark blue, and light blue. It was printed on the same paper that Picasso had already used for his famous "Suite Vollard". The edition is generally unsigned. Signatures are found only on a few trial proofs as well as on the "Bon à tirer" copies—as is the case with the present sheet.
About Dora Maar:
Dora Maar (1907–1997) was a French photographer, artist, and Surrealist who became closely associated with Picasso during the late 1930s. Born Henriette Theodora Markovitch, she studied photography and art in Paris and established herself as an accomplished avant-garde photographer before meeting Picasso in 1936. Her work included fashion and documentary photography as well as experimental Surrealist photomontage.
Maar became Picasso's companion and muse from 1936 into the early 1940s and was the subject of numerous paintings and prints.
She also photographed and documented the development of Guernica, providing an important visual record of Picasso's working process. Her own artistic career, however, was substantial in its own right and has increasingly received scholarly attention independent of her relationship with Picasso.
Auction history:
Auction 21 June 1982, lot 804: sold CHF 66’000.-
