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124

Pablo Picasso

Le cocu magnifique (The Magnificent Cuckold)

Estimate
$70,000 - 90,000
Lot Details
The complete deluxe set of 24 total prints, including the set of 12 etchings (four with aquatint) on Richard de Bas hand-made paper, hors-texte with the accompanying text in French by Fernand Crommelynck, and the additional suite of 12 etchings (four with aquatint), on Rives BFK paper (with wider margins), the sheets loose (as issued), contained in two original oxblood leather-covered portfolios with printed titles.
1968
one portfolio 20 1/4 x 15 3/4 in. (51.5 x 40 cm)
one portfolio 16 1/8 x 12 1/4 in. (41 x 31 cm)
Signed by the artist and author in pencil on the title page and numbered 'VI', and all of the prints from the suite with wider margins each signed and numbered 'II/X' in pencil (one of 10 in Roman numerals, there were also 30 in Arabic numerals and an edition of 150 without the added suite), printed and published by Atelier Crommelynck, Paris.
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Catalogue Essay
Ernest Beyeler famously recalls Picasso's quote about the difficulty of the aquatint technique and how he praised Piero’s ability by saying: “You know, it is not easy, it’s much more complicated than fitting Versailles in a matchbox”

Pablo Picasso

Spanish | B. 1881 D. 1973
One of the most dominant and influential artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso was a master of endless reinvention. While significantly contributing to the movements of Surrealism, Neoclassicism and Expressionism, he is best known for pioneering the groundbreaking movement of Cubism alongside fellow artist Georges Braque in the 1910s. In his practice, he drew on African and Iberian visual culture as well as the developments in the fast-changing world around him.Throughout his long and prolific career, the Spanish-born artist consistently pushed the boundaries of art to new extremes. Picasso's oeuvre is famously characterized by a radical diversity of styles, ranging from his early forays in Cubism to his Classical Period and his later more gestural expressionist work, and a diverse array of media including printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture as well as theater sets and costumes designs. 
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