- EN
Log in-
- Live Auctions
- Past auctions
- More
- Kornfeld today
- The Story of Kornfeld
- Information
1891-1892
Drawing in black charcoal
1958, cast from 1958
Bronze
1948-1949
Öl auf Leinwand
In his extremely extensive graphic oeuvre, the "Linos" created mainly in two phases between 1958 and 1965 actually occupy a small but immensely significant part. Of the linocuts Picasso created, some were produced only as individual trial proofs, but many were eventually published in an edition of 50 copies by Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris. In hardly any other medium did Picasso combine technical innovation, painterly thinking, and creative freedom in a comparable way. What began as an experiment with a previously rather inconspicuous printing process developed into one of the most original contributions to 20th-century printmaking.
Since 1948, Picasso regularly stayed in Vallauris, where he initially worked mainly with ceramics. There he met the printer Hidalgo Arnéra, whose studio printed the posters for the ceramic exhibitions in Vallauris. It was probably these works that drew Picasso's attention to linoleum as a printing technique. The inexpensive, easy-to-work material had long been widespread in poster design, but within fine art it was hardly considered a sophisticated graphic medium.
Picasso quickly recognized its artistic possibilities. The soft, homogeneous linoleum allowed for immediate work and, in contrast to woodcut, offered no limitation by a natural grain. Lines could be drawn with great freedom, but at the same time the finest details could be worked out precisely. Hidalgo Arnéra later recalled that Picasso treated the material "als hätte er sein Leben lang nichts anderes gemacht".
The first linocuts were still made using the traditional method, in which a separate printing plate was required for each color. This method was technically complex and severely restricted the artist's spontaneous working method. The decisive impetus for a new solution came from Hidalgo Arnéra. He suggested to Picasso that all colors be printed successively from a single linoleum plate. Picasso immediately recognized the creative potential of this so-called elimination or reduction process and developed it in a very short time to a previously unknown perfection.
The starting point is a single plate, which is first printed in the lightest color. The artist then cuts out those areas that are to retain this color tone before the next—usually darker—color is printed over it. This process is repeated until the final printing pass, which is often done in black. With each cut, the plate is irrevocably changed; an earlier state can no longer be restored. This finality in particular required an extraordinary power of imagination. As an example, "Femme assise au chignon" (Baer 1298; Bloch 1071) may be cited: First, Picasso prints the entire plate in a light brown, then he cuts the actual head out of the plate and prints it in a darker light brown over the "Tonplatte" (Ier état), then he cuts out further parts of the plate and prints in brown over the two layers (IIe état), cuts away more parts and finally prints in black over the previous states (IIIe état). Arnéra prints the plate four times before the artist finally gives his consent for the edition to be produced. He processed some plates into edition prints in up to three different states (for example Baer 1297, 1304, or 1338), which required significantly more impressions per state during printing. For some, he used, in addition to the plate, a matching frame printed in linocut, which he used for several edition prints (for example Baer 1320, 1323, or 1337).
Picasso therefore had to have the final composition fully in mind from the outset and developed the image, as it were, in reverse. Brigitte Baer meticulously documented this creative process in her seven-volume catalogue raisonné "Picasso. Peintre-Graveur" (1986-1996, Galerie Kornfeld Verlag, Bern). The individual states impressively show how Picasso developed the image layer by layer and made color a constructive element of the composition.
The collaboration with Hidalgo Arnéra was of decisive importance. Each printing pass required the utmost precision, as even the slightest shifts would have impaired the color registration. While Picasso continued to work on the plate after each print, Arnéra had to complete all impressions of a state. For an edition of fifty copies, numerous additional prints were therefore necessary—including trial proofs, color variants, and state proofs. Only when artist and printer were satisfied with the result did the actual edition printing begin.
It is precisely in this combination of precise planning and creative freedom that the special significance of Picasso's linocuts lies. Behind their apparent lightness is an extraordinarily complex working process. From a material that had long been associated mainly with poster and commercial graphics, Picasso created works of exceptional painterly power and technical sophistication, and finally elevated the linocut to the status of an autonomous artistic medium.
Of the total of about 170 linocuts, 25 were conceived as posters. Of about 35 linocuts, only trial proofs or individual impressions were made. About 110 of the sheets, however, were published as editions in varying numbers of copies, several times by Édition Galerie Madoura, Cannes, once by Berggruen, Paris, or others. The most important 104 linocuts were published by the artist's main gallery, Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris, in the usual Picasso edition of 50 copies.
A French private collector was able to acquire 103 sheets with the uniform numbering "45/50" from the holdings of Galerie Leiris. Up to the sheet "Visage" (Baer 1339), the sheets correspond to the normal edition. The last two existing sheets, "Étreinte I und II", do bear the numbering "45/50", but are not pure linocuts; rather, Picasso additionally reworked them in his specially developed rinsing technique (Rinçage) with Indian ink. The last linocut sheet published by Leiris in 1965, "Peintre et modèle au fauteuil à bascule" (Baer 1359), is missing from the collection. It is possible that, due to the reduction technique used, not enough sheets were available for the edition number. Unfortunately, we were unable to find this out. In the present form, with 103 of the total 104 uniformly numbered sheets, the series exists to our knowledge only in the group offered here. All the main sheets are included, only the last linocut is missing. The practically complete series of edition prints from Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris, is an impressive testament to Picasso's magnificent compositions and to printmaking in general.
1896, während des zweiten Aufenthaltes auf Tahiti
Öl auf Leinwand
1881
Oil on canvas
1951
Oil on canvas
1981
Acrylic on unprimed cotton
1957
Forged iron
1960
Oil on canvas
1914
Charcoal on strong, beige wove paper
1915
Öl auf Leinwand
circa 1957, cast from 1960-1962
Bronze
1915
Oil on wood
1906
Oil on canvas
1913
Öl auf Leinwand
1926
Öl auf Leinwand
1956
Geschmiedetes Eisen
1873
Öl auf Leinwand
1888-1890
Watercolour over preliminary drawing in pencil
1916
Oil on canvas
1912
Oil on cardboard mounted on plywood
1880
Oil on canvas
1897
Colour woodcut on copperplate paper
1916
Oil on canvas
1954/1955
Bronze
1955 in Paris
Öl auf Leinwand
1930
Oil on canvas
1894
Ölfarben auf Leinwand
1951
Plaster, discreetly coloured
1906
Oil and grease crayons on canvas
1911
Öl auf Leinwand
1984
Öl und Tempera auf Leinwand
Oil and tempera on canvas
1964-1965
Bronze
1981
Öl und Tempera auf Leinwand, auf Chassis von Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris, mit Stempel
Oil and tempera on canvas, on stretcher bar by Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris, with stamp
Circa 1882
Crayon conté on laid paper
1899-1917
Farbiger Holzschnitt von in drei Teilen zersägtem Holzblock, die weibliche Figur monotypieartig eingefärbt
1947
Öl auf Leinwand
1912
Öl auf Leinwand
1927
Gips
1964, cast from 1964
Bronze
1929
Oil on canvas
März 1943 in Amsterdam
Öl auf Leinwand
1980-1981
Öl und Tempera auf Leinwand, auf Chassis von Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris, mit Stempel
Oil and tempera on canvas, on stretcher bar by Lefebvre-Foinet, Paris, with stamp
1952
Oil on canvas
Circa 1904
Oil on canvas, laid down on a second canvas
1881
Oil on canvas
1934
Oil on canvas
Bronze
Circa 1912
Oil on canvas
1955-1960
Öl und Sand auf Leinwand
1911
Aquarell und Deckfarben, über leichter Vorzeichnung in Bleistift auf leicht bräunlichem Velin
1953
Oil, tempera, sand and sawdust on canvas
1886
Öl auf Leinwand
1965, cast 1972
Bronze
Beginning 1914
Pencil, Indian ink and paper collé
1908
Öl auf Leinwand
1908
Oil on cardboard, laid on wooden panel
1914
Pencil and watercolour on yellowish Simili-Japan
Herbst-Winter 1911
Öl auf dünner Leinwand
1882
Öl auf Leinwand
1980
Öl auf Leinwand
1970-1975
Oil and tempera on canvas
1953, cast 1991
Bronze
Ca. 1957
Plaster cast, coloured in ochre
1896
Mezzotint and drypoint on Arches laid paper with watermark
Oktober-November 1881
Aquarell über Kohlezeichnung, mit Pastell und Deckweiss überarbeitet
1921 - work number 1921.125
Oil with gouache and pencil on paper mounted on wooden panel
1879
Öl auf Leinwand
1908
Ölfarben auf Leinwand
Winter 1913/1914
Charcoal, wood grain paper and newspaper on paper
Circa 1980-1982
Oil and tempera on canvas
1895-1902
Colour lithograph in black, rust red and blue on green wove paper
1952
Öl auf Leinwand
1924
Aquarell und Deckfarben auf Taschentuch (Leinen), auf Unterlagekarton aufgeklebt, in Feder in Tusche überarbeitet, mit gouachiertem Rand, der Untergrund gekleistert
1954
Forged iron
1910
Aquarell über Bleistiftzeichnung
1929
Öl auf Leinwand
1903
Oil on canvas
1895
Oil on canvas
1933 - Werknummer 1933 Z 5 (1933.185)
Aquarell (Deckfarben) auf Gipsgrundierung, der Gips auf Gaze (leichte Leinwand) geleimt, die Gaze au
1915
Öl auf Leinwand
8. und 9. Oktober 1919
Farbiger Holzschnitt von vier Stöcken
1879
Öl auf Leinwand
Circa 1940
Oil paint on canvas, verso with paste priming
1922
Aquarell über Federzeichnung in Tusche
1908
Öl auf Leinwand
1929. Werknummer 1929.319
Aquarell über Feder in schwarzer Tusche
1926
Öl auf Malkarton
1959
Oil and sand on canvas
1925-1926
Oil on canvas. In original frame
Design 1927, cast 1960
Bronze
Ca. 1965
Bronze
Paris, 25 March 1935
Line etching, copper engraving, reworked with the scraper, on Montval laid paper with watermark
1892
Oil on canvas
1897
Mezzotint and drypoint
1910
Oil on canvas
1932
Oil on canvas, doubled
1914 - work number 1914.47
Indian ink and watercolour on paper, laid down on cardboard
1903
Colour chalk and brush lithograph, with mezzotint in the drawing stone, from the dark brown printing drawing stone and the clay stone for the background in blue-black
Circa 1815-1820
Brush drawing in sepia and brown on laid paper with watermark "M" in cartouche
1960
Black and blue pigments on paper on canvas
1898
Öl auf Leinwand
1915
Öl auf Leinwand
1976
Iron and steel, forged. Two-piece
1935
Oil on canvas
1947-1948
Öl auf Leinwand
1888
Öl auf Leinwand
1914
Oil on canvas
1947
Oil on canvas
1905
Oil on canvas
1898
Colour woodcut, hand-coloured on brownish paper, mounted on light cardboard
1895-1902
Colour lithograph on very thin Japan paper
1910
Tempera
Um 1895
Öl auf Malkarton
Um 1954, gegossen 1982
Bronzeguss
15. Juni 1953
Öl auf Leinwand
1962
Bronzeguss
1917
Oil on canvas
1910
Oil on canvas
1896, vom Künstler von Hand überarbeitet 1935
Farbiger Holzschnitt, leicht mit Kreide überarbeitet
Nice, December 1941
Charcoal on Arches wove paper with watermark
1914
Holzschnitt
um 1950, gegossen 1959
Bronze
1917
Opaque colours, watercolour and black chalk on yellowish Simili-Japan
Paris 1939
Aquatint and mezzotint on wove paper
1911
Oil on canvas
1905
Bronze
1949
Ölfarbe auf Leinwand
1955
Öl auf Leinwand
1912
Oil on canvas
1971-1974
Oil and tempera on canvas
1918
Woodcut and colour lithograph on wove paper
1912
Öl auf Leinwand
1924
Öl auf Leinwand
1887
Öl auf Leinwand
1874
Oil on canvas
1922-1924
Oil on canvas
1921 - work number 1921.55
Watercolour and pen and ink on paper, on second paper, on cardboard
1504
Engraving
1910
Oil on cardboard
1927
Oil on canvas. In original frame
1895/1902
Colour lithograph on thin Japan paper
1956, cast 2006
Bronze
Um 1922
Öl auf Leinwandpapier auf Karton
1910
Oil on canvas
1927, cast from 1980
Bronze
1956, cast from 2006
Bronze
1921
Brush and pen in Indian ink over preliminary drawing in pencil, heightened with opaque white (Deckweiss) and corrected, on two sheets glued together
1913-1914
Gouache, Indian ink and graphite on paper, mounted by Chagall and Nell Walden in 1914 on two coloured papers in preparation for the Berlin exhibition
1920 - Werknummer 1920.72
Ölfarben auf festem Velin, auf braunen Karton aufgezogen
1958
Öl auf Leinwand
Circa 1904
Chalk and brush lithograph printed from three stones
1918 - Werknummer 1918.159
Aquarell auf Ingres mit Kreidegrundierung
1987
Oil on canvas
1984
Oil and tempera on canvas
1965
Bronze
1905-1906
Bronze
1905-1906
Bronze
Oktober-November 1883
Bleistift, schwarze Kreide, mit dem Pinsel in schwarzer Tusche und Aquarell in Grau überarbeitet
1899
Oil on canvas
May 1928
Watercolour (pochoir) on wove paper mounted on cardboard (probably by the artist)
1982
Öl und Tempera auf Leinwand
Ca. 1950
Bronze
Circa 1882
Oil on canvas
1908
Oil on canvas
1943
Oil on canvas
1898
Oil on canvas
1958
Sheet iron, wire, coloured
Ca. 1960
Bronze, leather cushion
1911
Gouache on laid paper
1913
Gouache and Indian ink on paper, mounted by Chagall and Nell Walden in 1914 on two coloured papers in preparation for the Berlin exhibition
1960
Pure pigment and binder on paper, on canvas (print of reed)
Circa 1976
Bronze with patina, glass top
1988
Einbrennlackiertes Aluminium und galvanisierter Stahl
1994
Nagelung und Acryl auf Leinwand auf Holz
1931
Oil on canvas
Januar-Februar 1901
Pastell
1927
Oil on canvas
1929 - work number 1929.33 (M.3.)
Watercolour on German Ingres
Gstaad, January–February 1971
Gouache, pastel, coloured pencils and pencil
1982
Watercolour
1653
Drypoint on laid paper without watermark
1929
Oil paint over fine preliminary drawing on plywood board
1922 - work number 1922.64
Watercolour over preliminary drawing in pencil on Whatman watercolour paper, mounted on cardboard, on the cardboard with a border in watercolour surrounded
1924
Oil on canvas
1931- work number 1931.197 (T 17)
Watercolour and chalk on wove paper, laid down on cardboard
1885
Oil on canvas
Ca. 1960
Bronze, leather cushion
1896
Farbige Lithographie
1960
Mischtechnik, Sand, wohl Zement und Öl auf Leinwand
1650
Etching, engraving and drypoint on laid paper, possibly with parts of the watermark "Foolscap with Five-Pointed Collar", Hinterding watermark (vol. II, p. 288 and vol. III, p. 224)
1655
Drypoint on laid paper
Circa 1887
Oil on parquet wood panel
1953
Öl auf grober Leinwand
1971
Oil and coloured inks on canvas
Ca. 1935
Bronze
Ca. 1965
Bronze, glass tableplate
1896
Öl auf Leinwand
1952
Gouache and pastel
Circa 1450
Engraving on laid paper
1796-1798, first edition 1799
Series of 80 etchings. In the old, brown-green marbled calf leather binding of the period, with gold-embossed ornamental fillets and the red label with the inscription "CAPRICHOS / DE / GOYA"
1971–1978
Gouache and pastel
1933 - work number 1933.33 (L 13)
Watercolour and ink on Japanese paper
1920 (recto) - 1919 (verso)
Oil on canvas
Ca. 1960
Bronze, black stone tabletop
Circa 1907
Oil on canvas
1896
Colour woodcut on wove paper
1653-1655
Drypoint on laid paper without watermark
1895-1902
Colour lithograph in black, rust red, blue and olive green on very thin Japan paper
1504
Kupferstich
1647
Radierung, Stichel und kalte Nadel
1914 - work number 1914.128
Watercolour
1909 (?)
Chalk and black charcoal, lightly wiped in places
1895
Lithograph on thin beige Japan paper
1896
Colour lithograph on sturdy wove paper
1907
Oil on canvas
1888
Tempera on fine canvas
1645
Radierung, mit der kalten Nadel überarbeitet
Um 1934
Gips
1933
Oil on canvas/awning cloth
Circa 1936
Bronze
1899
Colour woodcut on laid paper
1981
Gouache auf Malkarton
1890-1895
Watercolour over Charcoal drawing
1907
Öl auf Leinwand
1963
Oil on hardboard
Circa 1978
Acrylic, oil, tempera and ink on canvas
circa 1933-1934
Bronze
circa 1891
Oil on canvas
1995
Rolled steel (Acier roulé)
Um 1654
Radierung, mit der kalten Nadel überarbeitet
1910
Pencil, blue and red colour pencil, heightened with white, on imitation Japan paper
1918
Feder in Tusche
1960
Oil on canvas
circa 1920
Oil over preliminary drawing in pencil on canvas paper, mounted on painting board
Paris, 9 December 1920
Grease crayons and pastel over preliminary drawing in pencil
Paris, 1939
Aquatint and scraper on copper, on Montval laid paper with watermark
5 June 1967
Pen and brush in Indian ink on Canson watercolour paper with embossing
1896
Colour lithograph on wove paper
1895
Lithograph on heavy greyish-beige wove paper
1961-1967
Bronze
1991
Oil on canvas/steel
Circa 1900
Oil on canvas
1796-1798, first edition 1799
Series of 80 etchings
1894
Oil on canvas
1915
Oil over preliminary drawing in pencil on canvas paper, mounted on wooden panel
1960
Oil on canvas
1961-1964
Bronze
Design ca. 1933-1934, cast early 1960s
Bronze
1653, überarbeitet um 1655
Stichel und Kaltnadel
1939
Deckfarben und Tusche in Pinsel und in Fingermalerei
Zustand
1995
Gerollter Stahl (Acier roulé)
2008
Charcoal drawing on paper, mounted on aluminium board
1940 – Work number 1940.345 (F 5)
Paste paint on paper on cardboard
Vor Juni 1891
Federzeichnung in Tusche und Bleistiftzeichnung
1988
Öl und Acryl auf Holz
2003
Oil on canvas
circa 1978
Tempera, gouache, pastel and pencil on masonite
1978
Oil, tempera and gouache on canvas-covered cardboard
circa 1935-1939
Bronze
Circa 1958
Sheet iron, wire, coloured
1958
Oil on canvas
1921
Öl auf Leinwand
1936
Öl auf Karton, aufgezogen auf Pavatex
1981
Tempera, gouache, charcoal, pastel and coloured ink
1918
Oil on canvas
Ca. 1962
Bronze, glass tableplate
August 1955
Oil and pencil on collage of cut cardboard and hardboard, mounted on hardboard (colour relief)
circa 1962
Bronze and round wooden panel
1973
Acrylic on canvas
Circa 1948
Sheet iron and iron wire, painted in white, red and black
1961-1967
Bronze
circa 1934, design, early 1960s, cast
Bronze
1915
Coloured woodcut, coloured monotype-like
1918
Line etching and emery, overdrawn with black ink, opaque white, charcoal and pencil
1639
Etching and drypoint
1960-1970
Bronze
1939
Brush and finger painting in oil, ink and gouache
Circa 1910-1912
Oil on canvas
1952
Oil on coarse canvas
Paris 1889, 1st edition
Marbled original cardboard folder with 11 loose zincographs on "papier canari", the first sheet "Leda" mounted on the folder
1643
Radierung, Kupferstich und kalte Nadel
15 June 1890
Etching, reworked in black charcoal on and above the right shoulder
circa 1936, design, early 1960s, cast
Bronze
Coloured pencil, coloured grease crayons and pencil
circa 1936, design, early 1960s, cast
Bronze
1959
Öl auf Leinwand
Bordeaux, Autumn 1825
Lithography
Circa 1933 - 1934
Bronze
1955/1956
Pavatex board with 11 differently shaped and painted metal elements on box construction with wooden wheels, rubber belts, metal fittings and 220 V electric motor
1962
Oil on hardboard
Probably 1885-1890
Oil on canvas
1898
Colour woodcut with hand-colouring in coloured pencil on thin cream-coloured Japan laid paper
1919-1923, published 1923
6 Lithographs, the first with collage, and imprint page on smooth paper with collage, in original cardboard cover with collage
1958
Kaolin on fabric on pluck
1970-1980
Bronze
1928
Oil on canvas
1896
Colour lithograph, reworked in white grease crayon
1940 - work number 1940.314 (H 14)
Paste paint on paper on cardboard
1976
Gouache, Indian ink, pastel and graphite on Arches with blindstamp
1925
Oil on canvas
1915
Oil on canvas
1960
Oil on canvas
1923
Oil on cardboard mounted on solid wood panel
1962
Marble
1914
Oil on canvas
circa 1935
Plaster
1927
Gouache over preliminary drawing in pencil
1958
Watercolour on Arches wove paper with watermark
22 June 1953
White faience, painting with engobe colour
1960
Oil on canvas
1954
Watercolour on heavy Whatman watercolour paper with blindstamp
1894-1895
Drypoint on Japan, in original mounts, with title page, in original linen folder with gold imprint "Edvard Munch"
1975
Geschnittenes Eisenblech, genietet, und Eisendraht. In Schwarz und Rot bemalt
1651
Radierung, mit der kalten Nadel überarbeitet
1983
Chamotte terracotta
1926
Oil on cardboard
circa 1936
Bronze
1980
Acrylic on KAPAline (lightweight foam board)
1984
Oil and watercolour on paper
1982
Nail picture (nails, paint on canvas on panel)
Circa 1915
Oil and tempera on paper, mounted on backing board
1957
Oil on canvas
Paris, 3–7 November and 31 December 1934
Aquatint, treated with scraper, drypoint and burin on laid paper with watermark "Vollard"
Schnitzerei in Lindenholz
1919
Oil on cardboard
1912
Colour woodcut on strong, smooth wove paper
1942
Bronze
um 1657
Radierung, stark mit der kalten Nadel überarbeitet
1967
Collage with red, yellow and green painted cardboards, except the white one, pasted on paper on masonite, previously primed with acrylic dispersion
1964
Acrylic paint on canvas
1965
Oil on canvas
1943
11 frottages, collages, graphics and photography, loose in original cover, in cardboard slipcase
1988
Woodcut in mauve. Caput mortuum, quindo pink, carmine red, transparent oxide yellow and zinc white.
1947
Drawing in charcoal pencil, wiped
1899, cast posthumously
Bronze
1994
Colour woodcut on Kumohadamashi Japan paper by Heizaburo Iwano
1950
Oil on canvas
1925 - work number 1925.W 5 (225)
Lithograph, hand-coloured in watercolour, sprayed
1971
15 lithographs with title, introduction and imprint
1994
Two-colour woodcut in red (vermilion and carmine) from two plates, printed 2.9.1994
1989
Organic material, wax crayon, chalk on lead in artist's frame
1502-1511
Folge von 20 Holzschnitten, 19 Blatt mit rückseitigem Text
Oil on canvas
1941
Indian ink, watercolour and gouache
1967
Colour screenprint
1961
Oil on canvas
Mougins, 26 January and 13 March 1962
Colour linocut on Arches wove paper
1932-1952
Gouache and collage
Berlin 1981
7 Works in watercolour and paste paint
1966
Optical-kinetic object made of hardwood panel painted with acrylic, mounted on wooden box, with aluminium spacer, nylon threads and metal rods painted white
1989
Colour woodcut on Kumohadamashi Japan
Paris, 3 April 1949
Colour lithograph on Arches wove paper with watermark
1904
Pencil and white chalk on imitation Japan paper
1925 - work number 1925.W 5 (225)
Lithograph
circa 1928
Oil on canvas
1926–1936 Design, 1936–1939 cast
Bronze on shell limestone base (Jura marble)
1991
Polyester, polychrome
1966
Pale onyx
Farbstift, Zimmermannsstift und Bleistift auf Millimeterpapier
14 June 1946
Lithograph
1890
Brownish-red colour etching on laid paper, printed by Paul-Ferdinand Gachet
2008
2 Bronzes
1917
Coloured pencil and pencil drawing on wove paper
Oil on canvas
1942
Plaster
1948-1954
Bronze
1918
Black charcoal on yellowish wove paper
1886
Blue watercolour over light preliminary drawing in pencil
circa 1974
Polyester, painted in colours
1968
Polyester, painted in colours
1989
5 Lithographien
1924
Original brochure with staple binding
