Woodengravings, 1931. Edition of 340.
Picasso was a figurative artist though he came close to abstraction in the early days of Cubist experimentation and in a few other initiatives; among them, these designs. He was commissioned by Ambroise Vollard in 1926 to illustrate an edition of Balzac's novel Le Chef d'oeuvre inconnu. With characteristic exuberance, Picasso came back with 12 etchings, 4 drawings in classical style, 63 drawings in a curvilinear style and 16 pages of dot-and-line drawings. Some of this work was already in the drawer, adapted to the Vollard commission; at least some of the dot-and-line drawings were in fact done two years earlier in 1924 as Constellations. Vollard sorted through the lot, accepted those he wanted to use, settled on the format, paper and typography for the edition, and had the drawings engraved in wood by Georges Aubert. The present impression is of three pages of these designs, lettered pages N, O and P, from an edition of the book. The Balzac was published in 1931 in an edition of only 340 copies. Size: 10 x 12. 7/8 in / 25.5 x 32.5 cm [[nOTE that two of the three prints are printed back/back. The fourth side of the folded double-page is blank.] ] Fine.

[Item #A810]