Trois Études de Françoise - 4 May 1945. Jours de Gloire. Days of Glory. by Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973

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

Trois Études de Françoise - 4 May 1945. Jours de Gloire. Days of Glory.

Original engraving in black ink. May 1945. Signed in pencil. Inscribed in pencil as ' 1er état no 41 /50' (in the hand of the printer). From the rare first edition of 50 impressions with the plate complete with the three studies (it was later cut-down). Commissioned for the special album: 'Jours de Gloire-Histoire de la Liberation'. Printed at Lacouriere Studio, 1945.
Ref: Baer Picasso Prints 700(ii)

Superb impression with strong burr on the engraved line. On pale cream wove Lana paper. Generally excellent condition; faintest traces of old mounting on the reverse only. Full small margins as issued. Sheet: 10 1/4 x 15 3/4ins. Plate overall: 8 5/8 x 13 1/2ins (218x345mm)

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

In 1945 Picasso was asked to etch an image to accompany a portfolio which under the title ?Jours de Gloire? would celebrate the Liberation of France. At that date he was at the height of the beginning of his relationship with Francoise Gilot. It was thus not surprising that to mark the relief and joy at the end of the War he should chose to make a study of Francoise. The composition that he drew is both extremely beautiful and fascinating in its conception. By linking the profile, the full face portrait, and the study of her seated he created an image which, like the multi-viewpoint drawings later used by sculptors such as Moore, is intensely plastic and three-dimensional- giving the sense of moving round an object -, and yet at the same time it is deeply compelling in the direct communication of the full-face view.

Only 50 impressions exist of the composition complete with its three parts. For the regular edition of the Jours de Gloire album the plate was cut down to the full face view only (and unsigned).

Picasso chose to use an engraving tool for this image, working the plate directly without any acid-bite. The resultant incision in the line, the strength and tonality in the strokes, the power of the forms, are immediately and almost tangibly expressive of the powerful emotion that Picasso felt in marking this moment in history and in his life.