"Homme Dévoilant Une Femme," 1931 from La Suite Vollard by Pablo Picasso

"Homme Dévoilant Une Femme," 1931 from La Suite Vollard by Pablo Picasso

Homme Dévoilant Une Femme from La Suite Vollard, 1931; Drypoint on three sided deckled Montval laid paper; Signed in pencil Picasso bottom right, dated XX-VI-MCM.XXXI in the plate upper right; From the edition of 260, full sheet, with Picasso watermark; Printed by Lacourière, Paris; Published by Vollard, Paris; Size - Plate 366 x 297 mm., Sheet 450 x 339 mm., Frame 38 x 33 1/2"; Framed with a black wood frame and fillet, two acid free linen mats, and UV plexiglass; Catalogue Raisonne: B. 138, Ba. 203 IIBd.

"Mademoiselle, you have an interesting face. I would like to do a portrait of you. I am Picasso. We will do great things together." - Pablo Picasso to Marie-Therese

Pablo Picasso’s impact on the history of art cannot be overstated. His influence is pervasive, shaping virtually every avenue of artistic creation since his emergence in the early twentieth century. Contemporary and subsequent artists have either drawn inspiration from his innovations or deliberately revolted against them, attesting to the inescapable force of his vision. While Picasso is best known for his groundbreaking work in painting and sculpture, he was also a master printmaker, continually exploring new methods and pushing the boundaries of the medium. His prints, often cataloged by series and date of completion, reveal a profound understanding of line, form, and composition. Like Henri Matisse, the vast majority of Picasso’s original prints were executed in black and white, while his limited color prints typically feature the subdued browns and muted tones characteristic of his linoleum cuts.

One of the crowning achievements of Picasso’s printmaking is the Vollard Suite, a remarkable series of 100 etchings created between 1930 and 1937. These works, executed in drypoint and aquatint, were commissioned by the eminent art dealer Ambroise Vollard in exchange for paintings by Renoir and Cézanne. The printing of the series was overseen and meticulously completed by master printer Roger Lacourière over the course of two years. The edition consists of 260 sets, with an additional 50 sets featuring wider margins and three sets on vellum. While not all prints were signed and none individually numbered, the Vollard Suite is widely regarded as Picasso’s greatest achievement in printmaking, celebrated for its technical virtuosity, thematic depth, and extraordinary emotional range. Although some museums possess complete suites, the majority of sets have been dispersed, with individual prints entering private collections worldwide.

Complete sets of the Vollard Suite are exceptionally rare. The National Gallery of Australia holds one, while the British Museum acquired a complete set in 2011, thanks to a generous donation of one million pounds from financier Hamish Parker in memory of his father. The director at the time, Neil MacGregor, described the acquisition as “one of the institution’s most important acquisitions of the past 50 years,” underscoring the series’ enduring significance in the history of printmaking.

The creation of much of the Vollard Suite was deeply intertwined with Picasso’s personal life, particularly his relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter. Picasso first encountered Walter on January 8, 1927, outside the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. As John Richardson recounts in Through the Eye of Picasso 1928–1934 (New York, 1985):

"Outside the Galeries Lafayette, one freezing afternoon, he was captivated by the sight of a very young, very voluptuous blond with intensely piercing blue eyes—the quintessential femme enfant. Picasso grabbed her arm, but his opening gambit almost misfired: 'Mademoiselle, you have an interesting face. I would like to do a portrait of you. I am Picasso.' She had never heard of him; he was obliged to take her to a nearby bookstore to show publications featuring his photograph. In the course of the maneuver he charmed her into meeting him two days later at the Metro Saint-Lazare, well away from his usual haunts. 'We will do great things together,' he said, taking her to a movie. Despite a thirty-year age difference, she found him attractive; she admired his style and presence."

In 1930, Picasso purchased a seventeenth-century château in Boisgeloup, Normandy, where his relationship with Marie-Thérèse flourished. For the next five years, she became the primary subject of his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Art critic William Rubin observed:

"None of Picasso's earlier relationships had provoked such sustained lyric power, such a sense of psychological awareness and erotic completeness... Picasso proceeds from his intense feeling for the girl... he paints the body contemplated, loved, and self-contemplating. The vision of another's body becomes an intensely arousing and mysterious process." (*Picasso in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, NY, 1971, p. 138)

Homme Dévoilant Une Femme (Man Unveiling a Woman) is a rare and early drypoint from the Vollard Suite, depicting the nude Picasso lifting a drape from the face of Marie-Thérèse Walter. The work is hand-signed in pencil “Picasso” at the bottom right and bears the date XX-VI-MCM.XXXI (June 20, 1931) in the plate at the upper right. The plate measures 366 × 298 mm (14 1/2" × 11 3/4") and the sheet includes full margins. Printed by Lacourière in Paris and published by Vollard, it comes from the edition of 260 with the Picasso watermark. This particular impression is brilliantly inked, with velvety-black burr throughout, exemplifying the tactile richness and dynamic line work for which Picasso is celebrated.

Custom museum framing further enhances the presentation, featuring a black wood frame, two linen mats, a black wood fillet, and UV conservation clear glass. A work of extraordinary rarity, technical mastery, and historical significance, Homme Dévoilant Une Femme is a standout piece for any serious collection of fine art.

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