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

Pablo Picasso (1881 Málaga – Mougins near Cannes 1973) Tête de femme no. 7. Portrait of Dora Maar Color drypoint etching on Montval handmade paper with the mark “Picasso.” (1939). Approx. 29.5 x 23.5 cm (sheet size 45 x 33.5 cm). One of 105 copies. Inscriptions by another hand on the reverse. Baer 655 D (from E); Bloch 1336. • Seventh and final sheet in a series of seven portraits of Dora Maar • Elaborate four-color print from four copper plates • The prints from this edition remained in Picasso’s possession until his death Dora Maar, herself a photographer and artist, was one of the most important women in Picasso’s life and work from the mid-1930s onward. Her distinctive facial features became the starting point for an ever-changing array of artistic variations. Created in 1939, this portrait concludes a series of seven graphic portraits of Dora Maar. Picasso used four copper plates, which he worked with a drypoint needle and sandpaper and overprinted in pink, blue, brown, and black. The planned edition was presumably not printed until around 1942. The 105 unsigned and unnumbered prints remained in Picasso’s possession until his death. Provenance: Private collection, USA. Taxation: subject to regular taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).