Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), A Modest Meal, 1995

Graphic from 1995, published by SPADEM Paris, on Arches paper.
Limited edition of 200 pieces. Each print is individually numbered.
Inscription in pencil l.d.: 102/200, facsimile "Picasso" on p.d.
Embossed stamp of the Picasso Foundation, hand-numbered 102/200 (limited edition).
Thick French paper, typographic description and hologram on the back.
Dimensions: 36.5 x 44.5 cm, full sheet: 50 x 70 cm
Condition of preservation: very good.
Provenance:
Private collection, Austria

The work is currently on display at the Albertina Museum in Vienna (last photo) in the exhibition From Monet to Picasso.

Picasso's works from the Blue Period primarily depict people on the margins of society: the poor, the lonely, the suffering. They seem to reflect Picasso's financial and emotional situation at a time when he had yet to gain public recognition. He moved to Paris in 1904 and lived in the most impoverished conditions in Montmartre, a neighborhood of extreme social groups. Elongated, emaciated figures with angular limbs and emaciated faces are characteristic of the works he created at the time. A key work of this period is the 1904 etching A Thrifty Meal, a technically and artistically impressive portrait of an unfortunate couple behind a bottle of wine. The black-and-white print heightens the isolation and hopelessness of the two figures.

Picasso also steadily developed his style in his printed works. Between 1919 and 1930 he worked with lithography, then in 1945 he returned to this medium , exhausting all its possibilities. He perfected the means of expression in terms of craftsmanship. Rather than relying on the simple line drawing of his earlier years, Picasso began to strive for a more painterly shorthand, achieving a brush-drawing effect by applying paint to larger areas of the surface. This is especially true of his linocuts and aquatints. At the same time, he drew on traditional forms of expression when he used a pointed needle or scraper to scratch white lines and areas beyond the black ground.