Guy Hepner
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Artworks
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • About
  • Shop
  • Video
  • Consign
Cart
0 items $
Checkout

Item added to cart

View cart & checkout
Continue shopping
Menu

Artworks

  • All
  • Contemporary
  • Emerging
  • Photography
  • Postwar
  • Urban
Pablo Picasso, The Little Artist (Draughtsman) | Le petit dessinateur, 1954

Pablo Picasso

The Little Artist (Draughtsman) | Le petit dessinateur, 1954
Original Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph on Arches Wove Paper
26 x 19.7 in
66 x 50 cm
Edition of 50.
Series: Lithograph
Copyright The Artist
View on a Wall
Created in 1954, Le petit dessinateur (The Little Artist) is a striking example of Pablo Picasso’s extraordinary versatility and technical mastery in printmaking. Executed in the lithographic medium, the work...
Read more

Created in 1954, Le petit dessinateur (The Little Artist) is a striking example of Pablo Picasso’s extraordinary versatility and technical mastery in printmaking. Executed in the lithographic medium, the work captures an intimate and deeply human moment — a young artist, seated on the ground, absorbed in the act of drawing. It is a composition that bridges simplicity and complexity, showing both Picasso’s gift for distilling form into essential lines and his command over layered textures and tonal variations.


The central figure — the “little artist” — is depicted with an elegance that balances anatomical precision and abstraction. The boy’s posture is natural yet stylized: legs folded, torso bent forward, arm extended with a brush or pencil in hand. The head tilts down in quiet concentration, the weight of his focus palpable. Picasso’s confident, fluid line traces the contours of the figure with minimal yet deliberate strokes, evoking both volume and tenderness. This economy of mark-making reflects the artist’s belief that the most profound expression often emerges from restraint.


Behind the young draughtsman, two framed or window-like forms appear, each containing stylized portraits — one rendered with a soft blue wash, the other in yellow-green. These could be interpreted as the child’s own creations, a glimpse into the imaginative world that exists within his practice. The juxtaposition of the realistically modelled boy with these simplified, almost schematic portraits adds a playful dialogue between artistic representation and abstraction, a theme Picasso often explored.


The background is dominated by a monumental figure drawn in fine, hatched lines and pale lilac tones, looming over the scene like a guardian spirit or muse. The ethereal quality of this presence suggests it might be an embodiment of inspiration itself — a visual metaphor for the forces that watch over and guide the act of creation. This layering of figures — corporeal and spectral — demonstrates Picasso’s mastery of compositional depth, even within a two-dimensional space.


Technically, Le petit dessinateur is a testament to Picasso’s remarkable printmaking skill. By 1954, Picasso had already been working extensively in various graphic media — etching, aquatint, drypoint, linocut, and lithography — and had developed a virtuosity that allowed him to experiment freely while retaining full control over his materials. In lithography, an artist works by drawing onto a stone or metal plate with greasy crayons or inks; this matrix is then treated chemically so that the drawn areas attract ink and the blank areas repel it. The process allows for a remarkable range of tones, from dense blacks to delicate, transparent washes.


Here, Picasso uses the medium’s capacity for tonal layering to great effect. The subtle interplay between the fine hatched textures, the transparent blocks of pastel color, and the confident black contour lines gives the work a dynamic yet balanced rhythm. His handling of space — flattening certain planes while giving others dimensional weight — speaks to his deep understanding of how lithography can merge drawing and painting sensibilities.


The work also reflects Picasso’s lifelong fascination with the act of art-making itself. Across his career, he repeatedly depicted painters, sculptors, and draughtsmen — often as surrogates for himself — engaged in their craft. In The Little Artis*, the subject is not an established master but a child, perhaps recalling Picasso’s own prodigious youth, when his father recognized his extraordinary talent. By portraying a young figure immersed in creation, Picasso nods to the purity and intensity of the artistic impulse, unclouded by academic convention or market demands.


This piece belongs to a period in the early to mid-1950s when Picasso was living in the south of France and working prolifically across painting, ceramics, and printmaking. His collaborations with master printers such as Fernand Mourlot in Paris had opened new technical possibilities, enabling him to push the lithographic process beyond traditional limits. Works from this period reveal his playful yet rigorous approach — blending spontaneous, gestural marks with calculated compositional structures.


In Le petit dessinateur, this synthesis of spontaneity and precision is fully realized. The drawn line is at once swift and exact; the color fields are soft yet purposeful; the interplay between figuration and abstraction invites multiple readings. It is a quiet work, without the overt drama of some of his more famous political or mythological scenes, yet it resonates with the intimacy of observation and the universality of artistic creation.


Ultimately, The Little Artist stands as a celebration of creativity itself — a moment suspended between thought and execution, rendered with the authority of an artist who understood that mastery lies not only in technical skill but also in the ability to convey human truth through the simplest of means. It is a work that underscores Picasso’s unparalleled command over printmaking and his enduring fascination with the act of making art.


For more information on Le petit dessinateur by Pablo Picasso for sale, contact our galleries using the form below.


Close full details
Inquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EPablo%20Picasso%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EThe%20Little%20Artist%20%28Draughtsman%29%20%7C%20Le%20petit%20dessinateur%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1954%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOriginal%20Hand%20Signed%20and%20Numbered%20Lithograph%20on%20Arches%20Wove%20Paper%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E26%20x%2019.7%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A66%20x%2050%20cm%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22edition_details%22%3EEdition%20of%2050.%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22series%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artwork_caption_prefix%22%3ESeries%3A%3C/span%3E%20Lithograph%3C/div%3E
Previous
|
Next
371 
of  7231

Join our mailing list

Submit

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.

177 10th Avenue
New York, NY
10001

Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm

info@guyhepner.com
+1 (212) 226 8680

50 Grosvenor Hill,
Mayfair, 
London, W1K 3QT

By appointment

info@guyhepner.com
+44 (0)20 3411 0108

  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Artworks
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • About
  • Shop
  • Video
  • Consign
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Youtube, opens in a new tab.
Tiktok, opens in a new tab.
Accessibility Policy
Cookie Policy
Manage cookies
Terms & Conditions
© Guy Hepner
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Find out more about cookies.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences