Petit Nu Assis au Miroir. Nude Girl Seated in front of a Mirror by Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973

Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973
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Petit Nu Assis au Miroir. Nude Girl Seated in front of a Mirror

Original lithograph in black ink drawn with brush, pen and finger-work. 1947. (Sunday May 11, 1947). Signed in pencil. Numbered from the edition of 50. Printed at the studio of
Mourlot, Paris 1947.
Ref: Mourlot - Picasso Lithographs no 100. Bloch no 451.

Excellent rich impression. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Generally excellent condition; slight traces of old mount hinges on the reverse only. With full (small) margins. Worked almost to the full sheet size, as issued. Sheet: 13 x 191/4ins. Image overall: 12 1/4 x 19 3/4ins. (310 x485mm)

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This study, probably of Francoise, illustrates to brilliant effect the constantly creative approach that Picasso brought to his work in lithography in the late 1940?s. He was working at the Mourlot studio and, with the technical facilities of the studio, he began to experiment with drawing on the litho stones in a wide variety of new ways. He was always an artist for whom visual image-making dictated technique, rather than a ?printmaker? artist who allowed a technique to dictate the pictorial result. For him the image was first in his mind and then the manner of working, of drawing on paper or on a copperplate or stone, developed out of that image rather than controlling it.

In ?Petit Nu au Miroir? the main form of he figure is created through a soft flowing line drawn with a brush rich in ink; this figure is then given contrast and depth by work with his finger or with a scraper. It is a technique which creates a special flow of form and strong plasticity whist at the same time having a marvellous richness of light. It is perhaps above all the quality of rhythmic counterpoint which is its most striking element.