In Painter in front of one of Raphael’s Three Graces, and a Woodsman in a Party Hat, Pablo Picasso revisits one of his most enduring late-career themes: the confrontation between the modern artist and the canon of art history. Created in 1968–69, the composition brings together a contemporary painter, a voluptuous nude derived from Raphael’s Three Graces, and a fantastical, masked woodsman figure, collapsing centuries of artistic tradition into a single, theatrical tableau.

Rendered with an assured, economical line, Picasso employs drypoint and aquatint with scraper to produce a surface that oscillates between delicacy and expressive intensity. The female figure, frontal and monumental, embodies classical harmony and sensuality, while the surrounding characters—part observer, part intruder—introduce a note of irony and disruption. The woodsman, adorned with an elaborate party hat, injects humor and masquerade, underscoring Picasso’s late fascination with myth, role-play, and artistic identity.

The work exemplifies Picasso’s late graphic style, marked by fluid line, erotic candor, and an unfiltered engagement with art historical sources. Rather than homage alone, the scene suggests dialogue and rivalry, positioning Picasso simultaneously as heir to and challenger of the Renaissance ideal. Printed on BFK Rives wove paper, hand-signed and numbered from the edition of 50, this composition stands as a powerful statement of Picasso’s sustained inventiveness and his lifelong interrogation of the relationship between tradition, creativity, and the act of looking.