Pablo Picasso, painter, designer, sculptor and… engraver. In a permanent quest for technical and formal innovations, the Spanish master devoted the last ten years of his life to the art of engraving, sheltered from the tumult of the city, in the bucolic setting of his farmhouse in Mougins, alongside his muse Jacqueline. In the privacy of his home, Picasso drew and engraved the copper plates by hand, line by line, anchoring some of his greatest masterpieces in the metal. Barely completed, he sent his plates to his illustrious engraver, Aldo Crommelynck, who had come to the South to accompany this new artistic period of the Minotaur. It is there, in his makeshift workshop on rue du Badier, that Crommelynck treats them with acid and puts them under his press to give life to priceless prints. This precariousness of the material delighted Picasso and stimulated his creativity, working on the brass instruments on the dining room table in a graphic frenzy, thus signing nearly 750 plates, around fifty of which are presented in this remarkable exhibition. Drypoint, etching, aquatint, mezzotint, the artist tries all the techniques to perfect his gesture. Through these engravings, the entire genesis of Pablo Picasso's work is revealed, celebrating the genius of his line in a little-known and complex artistic process. We find his series – Célestine, Raphaël, Fornarina – and the themes that are dear to him – the circus, the theater, the painter and his model, declined in subtle nuances according to the work carried out on the matrix by Crommelynck, as evidenced by these thirteen states of the same engraving, brought together in this exhibition paying homage to the “ last Picasso”.

Did you know?
The Crommelynck brothers not only worked with Picasso, but also with Miró, Giacometti and Matisse. Following these ten years of work with the Spanish master, they signed new prestigious collaborations such as David Hockney, Richard Hamilton and Jim Dine, fascinated by these engraved works of the “last Picasso”. The Crommelyncks will also support the design of new engravings for renowned publishers such as Pierre André Benoît.

PIERRE ANDRÉ BENOÎT MUSEUM-LIBRARY

Until September 1, 2024

52 Montée des Lauriers, 30100 Alès
More information here