Pablo Picasso, The Frugal Repast, 1904, printed 1913. Etching.

The exhibit covers Picasso’s printmaking throughout his different periods –Blue, Rose, Cubism –and his exploration of the variety of printmaking techniques –including, but not limited to, lithography, etching, aquatint, woodcuts, and linoleum cuts.  Picasso began printmaking in his early years and was completely absorbed with it by the early 1930s.  The Frugal Repast represents an early etching.

Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Glass Under the Lamp, 1962. Linoleum cut.

Starting out with etching and drypoint, Picasso later came across lithography at Fernand Mourlot’s workshop in Paris, and he experimented with the many possibilities within printmaking all throughout his life.  He was influenced by great printers such as Roger Lacourière, who trained him in intaglio techniques of etching, drypoint, engraving, and aquatint.

Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman No. 6, Portrait of Dora Maar, 1939.  Aquatint.

Picasso’s work in printmaking guided his artistic progression.  The MoMA exhibit presents different themes to point out how Picasso’s imagery evolved.  The way he portrayed the women in his life, for instance, shows marked change with a look at his prints over the years.  In another theme featured in the exhibition, Picasso’s lithographs of a bull show his stylistic change from realist representations to total abstraction.

Pablo Picasso, The Bull, state VII, 1945. Lithograph.

« Picasso : Themes and Variations »  is on view from March 28 – September 6, 2010. Organized by Deborah Wye, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Chief Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books, Museum of Modern Art.