Pablo Picasso

Linoleum cut, 1963 or 1964, one of four or five épreuve rinceé impressions of this subject cited by Baer, one of four signed in pencil, on Arches wove paper

Ex coll. Galerie Louise Leiris (gallery label on the verso)

see Christian Zervos, Vol. XXIV, page four, number four

With full margins, in good condition. Pale time stain at extreme sheet edges. A diagonal crease from the right sheet edge, at the seated figure's knee, to the left sheet edge, at the thigh of the standing figure, is inconspicuous on the recto and more apparent on the verso. Remnants of hinges at top corners verso and some minor surface soiling.
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Femmes au Mirroir demonstrates Pablo Picasso’s tendency to immerse himself in a particular theme as well as his habit of revisiting an image, sometimes years after it was first executed, to explore the visual impact of subtle changes to the composition.  Picasso first took up the medium of linoleum cut in 1954 with a simple black and white work and by the mid-1950s, he was fully absorbed in this technique.  In the second week of February 1956, the artist executed five related plates (documented by Baer as 1034, 1035a, 1035b, 1036 and 1037) one of which is Femmes au Mirroir (Baer 1036).  In subsequent years, collaboration with the local printer, Hidalgo Arnéra, yielded an innovative process allowing Picasso to return to a previous image and create a unique work which he called an ‘epreuve rincée’, or rinsed proof.

The rincée process involved printing the original linoleum block in greasy cream colored ink onto heavy white paper.  Picasso then painted the unprinted areas in black China ink.   While the black ink was absorbed in the unprinted areas, those printed with greasy, white ink repelled the China ink, producing a negative of the earlier image and allowing Picasso to experiment with unique compositions.  Finally, Picasso rinsed the print in the shower or bathtub, producing an effect more akin to painting than traditional linoleum cuts, and giving rise to the term ‘bathtub prints’.  

The present linoleum cut, titled in Zervos Deux Femmes a Leur Toilette, was not editioned. Baer cites four examples printed in brown, executed in the traditional printing manner and asserts that at least four but probably five rincée impressions were created at the end of 1963 and the beginning of 1964. Highlighting the unique nature of the works employing this technique, every (known) epreuve rincée is included in the Zervos catalogue raisonne of Picasso’s drawings, watercolors and paintings. Based upon the citation in Baer and the Galerie Louise Leiris label on the reverse (inventory number 013345), presumably this work is the fifth rincée mentioned by Baer (for a variant of the impression on offer, see Christian Zervos, Vol. XXIV, page four, number four). Picasso used printmaking, and linoleum cut in particular, to explore the evolution of an image and this unique work is a fine example of his creative process.