233 - Pablo Picasso. Poems and Lithographs. 14 lithographs. Paris, [Louise Leiris] 1954. 14 lithographs, all numbered, together with the printer’s mark, loose in the original envelope and slipcase.

Pablo Picasso. Poems and Lithographs. 14 lithographs. Paris, [Louise Leiris] 1954. 14 lithographs, all numbered, together with the printer’s mark, loose in the original envelope and slipcase. Starting bid time: approx. 3:05 p.m. (schedule subject to change) One of 50 copies, plus three “hors commerce” copies. - The colophon is signed by the artist. - Printed by Mourlot Frères, Paris, on Vélin d’Arches paper. - For this album, with its purely descriptive title, Picasso wrote the text, drew the illustrations, and designed the pages. Picasso’s first poetic works were published in 1935 in the *Cahiers d’Art*, at a time when significant difficulties in his life threatened to ruin his artistic career. The texts, written in 1941, refer to the problems caused by the German occupation. The images and associations evoked deal primarily with sensory reality; they describe sounds, colors, and smells. In April and May 1949, Picasso drew 30 motifs on transfer paper; he then designed the layout of the illustrations and the 26 pages of text across 14 sheets, arranging text and image side by side on sheets divided into four sections that were not to be folded or cut. The album was published in 1954 by the gallery of Louise Leiris, Kahnweiler’s sister-in-law, whose label can be seen on the colophon page. (According to Herma Goeppert-Frank, in Goeppert/Cramer, p. 184). - “Although always drawn on transfer paper, the motifs exemplify a broad technical and stylistic repertoire: Just as pen stands alongside brush and chalk, wash alongside gouache and frottage, line alongside halftone, outline alongside modeling, so too is each element further differentiated in the most striking way; taken as a whole, it is, as it were, a sample book of ceaseless changes, of variations.” (Güse/Rau). Goeppert/Cramer 69. - Bloch 615–628 and livres 68. - Mourlot 180. - Güse/Rau 465–478. - LC 2001 74. - Monod 9081. - Rauch 79. - A&B 235 65.5 × 50.5 cm. 15 sheets. - Cover has foxing. - Some sheets have a few tiny foxing spots along the outer edge. English description: 14 lithographs, all numbered, together with the colophon, loose in a wrapper and case. One of 50 copies, plus three additional “hors commerce” copies. - Printed on Vélin d’Arches by Mourlot Frères, Paris. - Imprint signed by Picasso. - “For this album, with its purely descriptive title, Picasso wrote the text, drew the illustrations, and laid out the pages. Picasso’s first poetic works were published in 1935 in *Cahiers d’Art* (no. 10), at a time when serious difficulties in his life threatened to ruin his artistic career. Those written in 1941 clearly relate to the hardships caused by the German occupation. ... Picasso’s writing consists of dense garlands of nouns, epithets, and participles, rarely linked to some insignificant verb. The images and associations evoked relate primarily to sensory reality; they describe sounds, colors, things that can be touched, and things that can be smelled. Between April 6 and May 29, 1949, Picasso drew 30 subjects on transfer paper; afterward, he arranged the layout of the illustrations and the 26 pages of text, written in 1941, across 14 sheets (Mourlot 180). ... The album was published in 1954 by the gallery of Louise Leiris, who was Kahnweiler’s sister-in-law; her label appears on the colophon page.” (Cramer, p. 184) - “A major monument in Picasso’s book work, consisting of his own random, Surrealist text illustrated with monumentally conceived lithographs. Although each plate is divided into four separate areas of design or text, folding the leaves and publishing the volume in quarto format would have diminished its effectiveness.” (Eleanor M. Garvey). “Picasso took the poetry he wrote seriously, publishing his first poems in 1935 in *Cahiers d’art*. In this album, which he designed himself, the artist not only created the lithographs but also handwrote the poems that were transferred to stone for printing. The poetry is unusually personal in its revelations of his suffering, humiliation, and sadness. For the lithographs, however, Picasso resumed the stance of the artist. He created twenty-nine skillful yet undramatic images of women, men, children, still lifes, and animals. All are beautiful yet curiously beside the point when compared to the frankness of his poems.” (Robert Flynn Johnson, in: LC) Wrapper foxed. - Some pages with tiny foxing spots along the edge.