Picasso vollard suite prints

We have been asked to write a report on Picasso's Vollard suites prints. I found out these are a set of 100 Etchings makde in 1930 - 1937.The Vollard Suite was named for its publisher, the famous Parisian art dealer and critic, Ambroise Vollard.

I started looking at the prints, and i found it quite difficult to get good information online, it took a bit of hunting and then more to find the correct names and numbers for them... but when i eventually did this one caught my attention pretty quickly...  

Figure 13. Sculpteur, Modèle, et 
Sculpture Assise (Bloch 146)

The reason for this is because while i was looking through all the prints, i noticed he used a verity of styles in these prints, and this one, i felt, was a good example of this. I think the woman in the middle is modeling, and the man is a sculptor and then the figure on the left is the creation. Why is the woman in the middle done this way? i am not sure. In my last report i looked at etching techniques a little, and i am quite excited to try it out for myself in class,  i think the darker marks on the middle figure is a technique called dry point, and, is a technique where the lines are scratched directly into the metal plates. 

I read that Lina Florman wrote a book called Myth and Metamorphosis: Picasso's Classical Prints of the 1930's. In it she wrote:


"At first glance, those plates [of the “Battle of Love”] would seem to have nothing in common with the “Sculptor’s Studio.” Each of the five “Battle” images depicts a couple in the throes of sexual passion: bodies entangled, mouths open—in all, a far cry from the visible quiescence of the “Studio” scenes. But this difference between the two series is not merely difference; it is direct opposition, and it operates on a number of levels. Whereas figures in the “Sculptor’s Studio” are characterized by a certain air of detachment, those in the “Battle of Love” seem anything but detached. By the same token, where vision dominates relations within the “Studio”, the “Lovers” are pressed too close for sight; they shut their eyes tightly or stare without seeing. Although these features are plainly there in the prints, they are brought to the fore only through a comparison of the two series. Those series are, in effect, polar complements, mutually defining each other in their opposition. Confirmation is to be had from plate 28…[Le Viol sous la Fenetre, Bloch 183], the earliest of the Suite’s five “Battle” scenes. In the upper left-hand corner of that image, a windowsill and vase of flowers—much as appear throughout the “Studio” series...—are clearly visible. Their inclusion in this plate links the “Battle” with the sculptor’s studio, and thus its frenzied lovers with the studio’s own, more subdued occupants."

I thought this was very interesting to read and would be good to take note of. This is one of the Battle of love etchings.

Fig 16. L'Etreinte (Bloch 182)

I think this is a really beautiful etching, I love the tone in this print and again i think it is dry point. After reading up about the battle of love, and the 5 images i found out that the vollard series has a few themes:

The battle of love (5)
Sculptors Studio (46)
Rembrandt (4)
The Minotaur and The Blind Minotaur (15)
Portraits of the Collard (3)

and the remaining 27 images that various themes like women sleeping and dressing, love,fighting and others.

I found these very interesting to look at and it helped me get a better understanding of how powerful printmaking can be, and what you can do with it, like, tone, style and technique.