Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso Femme au Fauteuil III 1948 Original lithograph on wove paper with watermark "Arches". 65.7 x 50.2 cm. Framed under glass. Inscribed on the reverse by Fernand Mourlot 'Epreuve d'exposition fm'. One of 5 prints. - In good condition. Minimally browned. Mourlot 136, 1st state Provenance Fernand Mourlot, Paris; Huizinga Collection, Münster; Galerie Meyer-Ellinger, Frankfurt; private property Switzerland Literature Ernst-Gerhard Güse/Bernd Rau, Pablo Picasso. Die Lithographien, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 239-245; Pablo Picasso. The Lithographs. Graphikmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster. The Huizinga Collection, Ostfildern-Ruit 2000, p. 129, no. 416 (other copy). The "Femme au fauteuil", originally planned by Picasso as a color lithograph, is one of his prints with the most variants, the motif was particularly close to his heart. The first draft of November 1948 was in five colors, but did not meet his imagination. In the weeks and months that followed, he therefore reworked each color plate into a black plate, varying the motif of the seated woman over and over again on each one. By April 1949, according to Fernand Mourlot's count, he had created 30 versions. Picasso also developed the theme in several oil paintings. The sitter is Françoise Gilot, his partner at the time and his favorite model. Her embroidered, fur-trimmed leather coat with its wide sleeves, with its ornamental quality, takes the leading role in many variations. In the version here, formerly owned by Fernand Mourlot, however, Picasso concentrated on the finely shaded face; the rest of the depiction is reduced to a few abstracted details.