1950s Picasso First Edition "The Absinthe Drinker" Period Lithograph

Description

An excellent vintage period offset lithograph, full-color print, after oil painting The Absinthe Drinker (1901) by Pablo Picasso from a … more An excellent vintage period offset lithograph, full-color print, after oil painting The Absinthe Drinker (1901) by Pablo Picasso from a first limited edition of XVI prints from the artist's folio published in the mid of the 20th c. Printed on one side. Hand tipped-in on a board of heavy paper. Information regarding the original painting will be found by lifting the piece. Excellent condition - minor edge wear on the board, never framed.

Image 7.5"W x 9.75"H

In Paris Picasso was desperately poor. He often went hungry, and the frequent appearance of food and drink in his early work is a revealing mirror to the vicissitudes of his own life. Over and over again he painted a single figure or a couple seated at a table. Food, if any, is a bowl of gruel or a crust of bread; drink a bottle of wine or a glass of absinthe.

There is nothing of the mundane about this woman on a cafe terrace. She belongs to the derelict fringe of the city. her hair is unkempt, her sleeves are too tight. A knitted shawl covers her shoulders. The claw of a hand which grasps the lump of sugar seems as predatory of her pointed features. In the background night obscure shadowy figures as they pass in the street.

The bright colors show a lively adaptation of Impressionist brushwork. Picasso models his draftsmanship on the quick character sketches of Toulouse-Lautrec. less