Additional information
| Artist | Picasso |
|---|---|
| Category | books, European |
| Nationality | Spanish |
ArtistPicasso, Pablo
Artist Years1881-1973
Artist NationalitySpanish
TitlePicasso Toreros
Year1961
MediumBooks
DimensionsOblong quarto: 12 X 10 inches
Catalog ReferenceBloch 1014-1017
Description
Bound book with four (4) original lithographs by Picasso, printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1961. Text by Jaimie Sabartes, published by Andre Sauret Pub., Monte Carlo, 1961.
Accession NumberRC515
NotesThe color lithograph in this series, Le Picador, was originally conceived in black. On Friday, April 21, 1961 Mourlot appeared with his wife at the castle to give the painter the proofs of the four lithographs and with a request from Sauret. The printer, accustomed to Picasso's refusals to the demands of the publishers, transmits without much conviction the desire of his best client for something in color, suggesting the possibility of adding "some color" to one of the proofs.
The painter, of an evident good humor that day, reflects a moment and responds "Ah, so he wants color, Mr. Mourrrrlot ... !'ll give you color." He immediately calls Jacqueline, whom he had married on March 2, and asks her to show the mansion to the visitors. After they have completed the tour, Picasso invites them to go down to his studio, anticipating to the printer that, since he wanted color, he would be satisfied. He then proceeded to show them the proof of the lithograph Le Picador colored endlessly with 24 wax pencils. Picasso knew that what he had done was going to create a major problem for Mourlot, since one stone would have to be made for each color, that is, he would have to prepare 24 additional stones to print the lithograph. The painter laughed like a child, and before the face of circumstances of the printer, he explained: "I used all the colors because it looks better. What is a pity is that there are no boxes of 36 colors!"