PABLO PICASSO 1881-1973
Torse de femme - L’Égyptienne, 1953

Sugarlift aquatint, on Arches paper, image: 83,2 x 47,3 cm.; sheet: 91,1 x 63,5 cm.

Signed in ink: Picasso, and numbered in pencil: 35/50

Catalogue raisonné:
Bloch 746; Baer 906 II (of II)

PROVENANCE
Sotheby's, London, 30 March 2011, lot 130 (GBP 121,250);
Galerie Thomas, Munich, until 2014;
there acquired by a Private Collector, Europe.

„L’Égyptienne is among the most iconic of Picasso’s prints. The bold black-and-white composition is a stunning example of this phase of his career, characterized by an abstracted geometric approach to the figure. The sitter is shown in both frontal and profile positions simultaneously, lending a sense of conflict and drama to the portrait. While the subject is known to be Françoise Gilot, Picasso’s lover from 1943 to 1953, the work transcends its subject in its sheer graphic impact and compositional dynamism.

In addition to its power as an image, L’Egyptienne is also a remarkable feat of technical brilliance. The print was created entirely with sugar-lift aquatint, a technique that is among the most difficult to master in printmaking. The process is quite delicate and is easily thwarted at any stage—perfection is achieved only through experience and utter sensitivity to the materials. It is also quite challenging to achieve blacks as deep and even as they are here. Picasso had long been obsessed with the bottomless blacks of Rembrandt’s etching and had set a challenge for himself to equal them in his own work. As seen here, he had clearly achieved his goal. In addition, it is truly a marvel that he could do so on a plate of this size. The expansive and continuous areas of even black seen in this plate would elude even the most skillful printers—usually a flaw of some kind is inevitable.

The subject was nicknamed L’Égyptienne by Picasso's masterprinter, Roger Lacourière, in reference to the sitter’s hairstyle, which is reminiscent of Egyptian sarcophagi.

To create a sugarlift aquatint, the artist paints on the copper plate with specially prepared sugar syrup that is allowed to dry. The plate is then coated with varnish or hard-ground and placed in a water bath. The sugar solution underneath dissolves and “lifts” the varnish or hard-ground, leaving the painted areas exposed. The plate is then put through the process of aquatint. It is dusted with rosin powder that is baked to the surface, and then etched to varying depths according to the desires of the artist; a full range of tones is possible“.

Quoted from John Szoke, the foremost authority on Picasso prints.