Baccanale

Pablo Picasso
linocut
1959

Picasso let his experimental penchant loose in the field of graphic design: in addition to his paintings he made over 2,500 engravings. Producing works as an illustrator, designer, engraver and printer, not just a sculptor and painter, Picasso enjoyed the linocut technique which he used with customary stylistic panache. This engraving was made in 1959 and is part of a series on corridas, bullfighting and bacchanalia. 

Sir Ronald Penrose, a keen observer and friend of Picasso’s, noted that “by the 17th of November the figures of the bull, the picador and the sword had undergone a strange transformation: the bullring has been transformed into countryside and we see a dancing shepherd who, his career as a picador forgotten, now sways to pipes played by a seated companion while the bull, now a placid goat, looks on and a dove of peace flies overhead.”