549 - Pablo Picasso (1881 Málaga – Mougins near Cannes 1973)

Pablo Picasso (1881 Málaga – Mougins near Cannes 1973) Faun Revealing a Sleeping Woman (Jupiter and Antiope, after Rembrandt) Etching with aquatint on Montval handmade paper with watermark “Picasso.” (1936). Approx. 31.5 x 41.5 cm (sheet size approx. 34 x 45 cm). One of 250 copies on this paper (+ 10 artist’s proofs). Signed lower right. Sheet 27 from the Vollard Suite, published by Ambroise Vollard, Paris. Bloch 230; Baer 609 VI B d (from B d). • One of the key prints in the famous “Suite Vollard” and, at the same time, the culmination of the Minotaur series • Created as a free interpretation of Rembrandt’s 1659 etching “Jupiter and Antiope” • The sleeping woman bears the features of Marie-Thérèse Walter, Picasso’s lover and central muse of the 1930s With “Faune dévoilant une dormeuse,” created on June 12, 1936, Picasso produced one of the most striking works in the “Vollard Suite.” The starting point is Rembrandt’s depiction of Jupiter approaching Antiope in the form of a satyr. In Picasso’s version, Jupiter becomes a faun who gently lifts the cloth covering the sleeping woman and gazes at her spellbound. The female figure bears the features of Marie-Thérèse Walter, whose sensual physicality had a decisive influence on Picasso’s work during those years. The nuanced chiaroscuro of the aquatint lends the nocturnal scene an atmosphere that is both intimate and mysterious. Provenance: Private collection, Southern Germany. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).