Composition au verre à pied (Bloch 431; Mourlot 77)

About the work

Established in Paris in 1852, l'Atelier Mourlot has long been recognised as a premier name in fine art lithography, with a history spanning more than a century and a half. In 1930, the founder's grandson, Fernand Mourlot, began inviting prominent artists to the studio to explore the art of traditional limestone lithography. This medium offered painters like Picasso a novel avenue for creative expression. Picasso was introduced to Fernand Mourlot in October 1945, after persistent encouragement from Henri Matisse and Georges Braque. As they had anticipated, Picasso quickly became captivated by the possibilities of lithography, impressing the Mourlot team with his bold artistic vision and skill. He embarked on numerous groundbreaking experiments with limestone, dedicating several months at a time to the workshop, working up to 12 hours a day. Over a span of 20 years, he produced nearly 400 lithographs. The book "Dan’s l’atelier de Picasso" (In Picasso’s Studio), written by Picasso's secretary and close friend Jaime Sabartés, was published by Editions Mourlot in 1957. This small portrait of a faun by Picasso is a lithographic reproduction of one of his drawings. The reproduction was meticulously crafted by Henri Deschamps, Picasso’s preferred and most trusted master printer at the Mourlot Studio. Whenever a painting or drawing needed reproduction and it wasn't already an original print, Picasso turned to Deschamps. Their close collaboration spanned from 1945 until Picasso's death in 1973.