From the outset of his career, Pablo Picasso worked with a wide range of printmaking techniques. From the late 1950s, he made linocuts, using a soft sheet of linoleum as the printing plate. Even at the age of 80, Picasso’s experimentation and playfulness did not diminish, and he devised a unique reduction linocut technique using just one sheet of linoleum rather than different plates for different colors.
This work has been printed twice. First he has run a metal comb over the linoleum to create a tone of light and shade, then chiseled away the highlights on the forehead and cheekbones before making the first print. Next, everything else except the thick eyebrows, eyelashes, lips, and outlines is carved away before the image is printed a second time to create the sharply etched face of his young wife, Jacqueline. The artist’s exquisite sense of balance is apparent in his depiction of her hand, which is as arresting as the face.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)
From the outset of his career, Pablo Picasso worked with a wide range of printmaking techniques. From the late 1950s, he made linocuts, using a soft sheet of linoleum as the printing plate. Even at the age of 80, Picasso’s experimentation and playfulness did not diminish, and he devised a unique reduction linocut technique using just one sheet of linoleum rather than different plates for different colors.
This work has been printed twice. First he has run a metal comb over the linoleum to create a tone of light and shade, then chiseled away the highlights on the forehead and cheekbones before making the first print. Next, everything else except the thick eyebrows, eyelashes, lips, and outlines is carved away before the image is printed a second time to create the sharply etched face of his young wife, Jacqueline. The artist’s exquisite sense of balance is apparent in his depiction of her hand, which is as arresting as the face.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)