Pablo Picasso Bullfight (Corrida), 1957; Often described as the master of line, Picasso explores the potential of drawing in this work by playing with expressive mark-making in varying depths, qualities, and colors. The artist effortlessly conveys the excitement of the Bullfight scene, drawn with an inexactitude and confidence that communicates the festive and precarious nature of the sporting event. Captured as an aerial spectacle, the composition beckons the viewer to feel as a present attendant, witnessing first-hand the scene before them. The figures emerge in array of vivid colors with the picador in brown mounted upon his horse, and his companion, the torero, proudly presenting the muleta in bright red.

For this particular piece, Picasso used the lithograph transfer process, in which the artist draws onto a piece of paper before transferring it to the stone. While this method can allow the artist to work outside of the printing studio, it also has aesthetic potential, which Picasso explores with beautiful results in this artwork. The transfer paper enables the process of frottage, the technique of laying a paper over a surface and rubbing it with a drawing medium to reproduce the texture underneath. This is visible in the yellow color throughout, emitting a coarse texture and hazy radiance, illuminating the center of the composition.

Created in November 11^th, 1957, this color lithograph is hand-signed by Pablo Picasso (Malaga, 1881 - Mougins, 1973) in brown crayon in the lower right. Numbered from the edition of 50 in pencil in the lower left, this work is printed by Mourlot, Cannes and published by Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris.

PROVENANCE:

Konstbibliofilen, Stockholm c. 1970

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Pablo Picasso Bullfight (Corrida), 1957 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Bloch, Georges. Picasso: Tome I, Catalogue de l'oeuvre gravé et lithographié 1904-1967. Berne: Editions Kornfeld et Cie, 1984. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonne no. 840.

2. Mourlout, Fernand. Picasso Lithographe Volume IV,1956-1963. André Sauret, Monte Carlo, 1964. Listed an illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 303.

3. Gauss, Ulrike. Pablo Picasso Lithographs. Graphikmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster: The Huiziga collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2000. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 714.

4. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Pablo Picasso Bullfight (Corrida), 1957 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.