The Embrace III (L'Étreinte. III) from the Vollard Suite (Suite Vollard)
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973
1933, published 1939
In this drypoint, Picasso compresses two bodies into a tumbling, almost monumental mass, using distorted, volumetric forms to dramatize the physical and emotional force of an embrace.
A frenzy of looping, cross‑hatched lines carves swollen muscles, breasts, and faces into a single writhing lump, cropped so tightly that limbs and features tumble toward abstraction and raw corporeality.
Part of the Vollard Suite, the print helped reconceive printmaking as a medium for sculptural, expressionist invention—melding classical citation, erotic intensity, and experimental line that widened modern graphic practice.
Medium
Drypoint
Dimensions
plate: 11 5/8 x 14 3/8" (29.6 x 36.5 cm); sheet: 13 3/8 x 17 3/4" (34 x 45.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Accession
218.1949
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
