Autoportrait sous Trois Formes: Peintre Couronné, Sculpteur en Buste et Minotaure Amoureux

Pablo Picasso
Autoportrait sous Trois Formes: Peintre Couronné, Sculpteur en Buste et Minotaure Amoureux
etching
May 18, 1933

An original hand-signed Pablo Picasso etching.

(Self-portrait in Three Forms: Crowned Painter, Sculptor in Bust and Minotaure in Love)

May 18, 1933

Original etching printed in black ink on Montval laid paper bearing the “Picasso” watermark.

Hand-signed in pencil in the margin lower right Picasso, also inscribed with the date in the plate (in reverse) lower left.

A superb impression of Geiser’s second version of the only state, from the edition of 260 printed on this paper (there were a further 50 impressions printed on Montval laid paper with wider margins and the “Montgolfier” watermark, and four impressions printed on parchment).  Plate 84 of 100 from the Suite Vollard.  Published by Ambroise Vollard, Paris, 1939: printed by Roger Lacourière, Paris.

Catalog: Bloch 191; Geiser 350.B.d.

Size Image: 11 5/8 x 14 ½ inches

Sheet Size: 11 5/8 x 14 ½ inches

Framed Size: 26 1/2 x 28 3/4 x 1 1/4 inches

The figure of the Minotaur, a mythological figure with a bull’s head and a human body, plays a central role in the Suite Vollard.  Roland Penrose notes that the arrival of the Minotaur in Picasso’s imagery coincides with his new interest in sculpture, and further suggests that the nature of the Minotaur, half man, half beast, seemed to correspond in certain ways to Picasso’s vision of himself in the role of the sculptor.  However, Picasso’s identification with the contradictory nature of the creature, portrayed in moments of tenderness and violence, carousing and humiliation, also mirrors the strains experienced in his personal life, which in turn affected his work at the time.  The development of his relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter, whom he had met in 1927, and the increasing estrangement from his wife, Olga, came to a head in June 1935, when his mistress’ pregnancy could no longer be kept secret and his wife walked out with their son.