(Family of Acrobats)
Original soft-ground etching on chine colle paper
41 x 49 cm (image) / 57 x 76 cm (sheet size)
Numbered 3 / 300
Signed twice (highly unusual) in pencil lower right
& upside down top left in red crayon
This simple and elegant rendition of an otherwise typical family portrait is anything but.
A family of performers, actors, and entertainers are portrayed in this work, yet Picasso chooses to devote an equal amount of emotion and energy with each character, making this piece more equivalent to 4 works of portraiture.
They are the perfect, nuclear family with dog in tow. However they also seem to be bogged down within their own, unique and individual worlds.
This early numbered edition was created in around 1950 and is hand-signed twice by
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
in the lower right margin in pencil & top left in red crayon
(Picasso did vary between pencil and red crayon when signing this edition but it is rare to have a piece signed twice and in both mediums).
Printed on chine collé paper with deckle edges, the work features a strong and defined plate mark with wide margins all around.
Published by Crommelynck, Paris, the sheet also features their signature blindstamp.
Provenance –
private collection, New York
Halcyon Gallery, London
private collection, Monaco
