"Away" (chapter title, page 73) from Corps perdu
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973
1949, published 1950
An aquatint plate from Picasso’s illustrated book Corps perdu that serves as the chapter title “Au Large,” using a few bold black marks to suggest a boat, distance, and the idea of going away.
The spare whiteness immediately draws you in: a single vertical stroke above a stippled curved arc reads like a mast and hull, while a loose scatter of pebble-like prints below suggests waves, wake, or drifting forms across an open sea.
It exemplifies Picasso’s late exploration of printmaking and bookmaking, where pared-down, almost calligraphic signs and typography blur image and text to open new, ambiguous narrative possibilities in modern prints.
Medium
Aquatint from an illustrated book with twenty engravings, ten aquatints (one with drypoint), one drypoint, and one etching (including wrapper front)
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 12 5/8 x 9 7/16" (32 x 24 cm); sheet: 15 3/8 x 11 1/8" (39 x 28.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
995.1964.21
Palette
Exhibitions
