Lithograph, handmade paper, 44 x 33 cm,
originally mounted on black acid-free cardboard 50 x 40 cm.
The lithograph comes from the only numbered portfolio issued in an edition of 1,200 entitled "Suite Vollard", signed p.d. facsimile of Picasso's signature, numbered in pencil l.d.: 738/1200, in the l.d. corner of the paper reflected head according to Picasso's drawing, on the reverse p.d. footer: PABLO PICASSO, VOLLARD SUITE, Planche [number of the print in Roman numerals], Été tirée a 1.200 exemplaires. Tous, les exemplaires ont été numérotés, Copyright by S.P.A.D.E.M. 1973 /63/
The "Vollard Suite" collection is a series of 100 engravings originally made in etching, starting in 1939, by Roger Lacourière (1892 - 1967). The collection was created between 1930 and 1937 and was named after the art dealer who commissioned them from Picasso, Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939). Vollard did not live to see the publication of the entire series, which after his death was sponsored by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
The mythical Minotaur - part man, part bull - was Picasso's alter ego in the 1930s and part of a broader exploration of classicism that was evident in his work for many years. The minotaur was also a symbol of the Surrealists, who saw him as the personification of forbidden desires. For Picasso, it was an expression of complex emotions during a time of personal turmoil. The Minotaur symbolized lust, violence, guilt and despair.
