Tete De Bouffon or Carnaval (Head of a Jester or Carnival); Linocut in black and brown, 1965, on Arches, signed in pencil, numbered 66/160; framed; Size - Image: 25 1/8" x 20 5/8", Sheet: 29 3/8" x 24¼", Frame 50 x 43 1/2"; Framed with two linen mats, a black wood fillet, a black and brown wood frame, and UV conservation clear glass; Catalog Raisonne: B. 1193, Ba. 1356, L-182.
Pablo Picasso was a master of technique and no matter what materials he worked, he excelled! His print techniques were no exception; lithography, drypoint, etching, aquatint, and engraving were all masterfully executed. However, it was with the linocut that Picasso was able to not only master, but also be able to move the technique giant steps forward.
The linocut is a very early technique that was created during the early part of the 20th century and is a form of printmaking that uses a block of wood or a sheet of linoleum, as a relief surface. The artist will cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife or chisel, with the raised (un-carved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to be printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller and then impressed onto paper. The actual printing can be done by hand but is usually accomplished with a press. The technique is straightforward and if multiple color prints are wanted; separate linoleum blocks are carved, sequentially inked, and printed.
Close up of the Picasso pencil signature.
Picasso used the multiple block technique to create linocuts composed of several different colors however; due to the imperfect registration of the blocks during printing, the colored areas would not completely register. Picasso, out of frustration over poorly registered multi-block prints, came up with the idea of the "reductive" linocut. After each successive colour is imprinted onto the paper, Picasso would then clean the linoleum block and then cut away what will not be imprinted for the subsequently applied color, and so forth and so on. This allowed for a perfect registration of each inked color and complete control of all carved forms. The technical skill of understanding the reversal imagery, color placement, and comprehension of the sequence of forms that were carved is quite extraordinary; and further proves that Picasso was a master artist!
In collecting Picasso original prints, it is important to note that the vast majority of works are black and white. Colored works will be a few stone lithographs and the linoleum cuts, where black, brown, and the white or cream paper make up the color spectrum for the majority of the works. In this work, "Tete De Bouffon or Carnaval (Head of a Jester or Carnival)" from 1965; the work is printed on a cream colored Arches wove paper in two colors; black on brown from one block using the reductive linocut technique.
The Jester or Harlequin as subject matter had a very long history with Picasso starting with the paintings from 1901-1910 when the characters began to appear frequently. From the Art Institute of Chicago's web site:
"The artist certainly saw Paul Cézanne's Mardi Gras (Pierrot and Harlequin) at the 1904 Salon d'Automne in Paris, when he became most interested in the theme. The fluidity with which Picasso moved between the themes of jesters, Harlequins, and saltimbanques—the itinerant acrobats who sometimes dressed in the costumes of Commedia dell'Arte characters—shows how personally he identified with these performers to channel themes of alienation, love, jealousy, and fraternity."
The Jester was part of Pablo Picasso's lexicon throughout his life and would reemerge over and over again in different forms and in all mediums; including prints, paintings, sculpture, and ceramics.
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