L'Homme au Chapeau. Man in a Hat. by Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973

Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973
Scroll down for information.
Click here to return to the list.

L'Homme au Chapeau. Man in a Hat.

Original etching in bistre/red-brown ink. 1914/15. One of only 20 impressions in bistre ink on 'old japan' paper, apart from the edition of 490 issued for the album: Du Cubisme, 1947. Printed at the studio of Compagnie des Arts Graphiques, 1947. (Only 4 impressions are known prior to this 1947 edition). Very rare in impressions in bistre ink, as here.
Ref: Geiser-Baer Picasso Peintre Graveur no 42

Very fine strong impression. On pale cream 'old japan' paper. Excellent condition. Full(?) margins. Sheet: 250x196mm. Plate: 2 3/4 x 2 1/4ins (70x58mm).

This item is sold.
Click here to enquire about this item.

This small-scale but fully-developed cubist composition was etched by Picasso in 1914 or early 1915. Only one 1914/15 impression is known (in the Picasso Museum), and just 3 impressions were printed for Picasso at Louis Fort?s studio in 1930. The only full edition is that for the album ?Du Cubisme? in 1947. For this issue the plate was steel-faced, but was still in perfect condition before the facing. 20 proofs were pulled in bistre/red-brown ink, as above, and an edition totalling 490 impressions in black ink. The plate was then cancelled.

?Man in a Hat - L?Homme au Chapeau? is one of a small series of complex highly developed cubist works which Picasso etched in 1913-1915. Many of them, like that above, remained virtually unprinted at the period. The build-up of the form through patterns of contrasted parallel shading within the angular counterpoint of the forms underlines what most interested Picasso about cubist work in etching - the ability to use the fine incisive bite of the line to create both surface and texture whilst being at the same time non-descriptive and abstract (i.e. just parallel shading).

Du Cubisme was an album reissuing the seminal 1912 tract defining Cubism written by Gleizes and Metzinger. Besides the Picasso cubist etching above, the album also included prints by Gleizes, Metzinger, Picabia, Duchamp, Laurencin and Villon. The proof editions in bistre ink are very rare.