Guy Hepner Gallery

Pablo Picasso Les vendangeurs For Sale

Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso - Les vendangeurs, 1959, Color Linocut on Arches Wove Paper

Les vendangeurs, 1959

Color Linocut on Arches Wove Paper

Image: 25 1/8 in x 20 3/4 in (63.8 cm x 52.7 cm) Sheet: 29 1/2 x 22 1/2 in (74. 9 cm x 57.1 cm)

Edition

Edition of 50 + 20 AP

About this work

Created in 1959, Les vendangeurs (The Grape Harvesters) is a striking example of Pablo Picasso’s late-career mastery of the linocut, a printmaking technique that he helped to revolutionize. The work captures a pastoral moment — two stylised figures reclining in a vineyard during harvest time — but its execution is anything but traditional. Here, Picasso transforms a timeless rural subject into an abstract, rhythmic composition that pulses with vitality, combining his deep understanding of form with his innovative approach to graphic art.The composition is dominated by two central figures. On the left, a reclining harvester leans back, knees bent, torso twisting in a dynamic pose. Their form is articulated through bold, ribbon-like contours that flow across the body, creating a sense of movement even in repose. A basket brimming with grapes sits nearby, its rounded shapes contrasting with the sharp linearity of the figure. Opposite them, a second figure — wearing a broad-brimmed hat adorned with flowers — sits upright, hands raised to the face in a gesture that suggests tasting or contemplating the grapes. The hat’s exaggerated brim and floral decoration add a festive, almost theatrical note to the rural scene.The background, though reduced to essential curves and swirling lines, suggests the undulating landscape of a vineyard under a luminous sky. Picasso’s carved marks mimic the fluid movement of wind, the curvature of hills, and the tactile richness of grape-laden vines. This combination of figuration and abstraction allows the viewer to sense both the specific act of harvesting and the timeless rhythm of agricultural life.Technically, Les vendangeurs is a tour de force of linocut printmaking. By the late 1950s, Picasso had not only mastered the medium but had also developed his own distinctive method: the reduction or suicide linocut. Rather than carving multiple linoleum blocks for different colors, Picasso worked with a single block, progressively cutting away sections after each color was printed. This required an exacting level of planning and precision, as there was no possibility of correction once material was removed. The artist’s complete control over this process is evident in the harmonious interplay of tones here — deep black, rich brown, and the warm beige of the untouched paper — which combine to create a sculptural depth and tactile warmth.The reduction technique also allowed Picasso to work with flowing, interconnected shapes, as seen in the way the figures’ forms and the surrounding environment merge into a unified design. The interplay of positive and negative space is particularly striking: areas of flat color alternate with intricate carved lines, giving the composition both solidity and dynamism.Thematically, Les vendangeurs fits within Picasso’s broader interest in scenes of rural labor, leisure, and festivity, which he explored throughout his career in paintings, drawings, ceramics, and prints. The grape harvest, with its connotations of abundance, celebration, and the cycles of nature, provided an opportunity for Picasso to merge the human form with organic motifs. This blending of human and natural rhythms is a hallmark of his mature style, reflecting both his classical roots and his modernist sensibility.What makes Les vendangeurs particularly compelling is its balance between immediacy and refinement. The sweeping curves and bold contrasts convey a sense of spontaneous energy, as if the scene were unfolding before us, yet the precision of the carving and the careful orchestration of colors reveal a meticulous, deliberate craftsmanship. This duality — spontaneity anchored by control — is one of the defining features of Picasso’s printmaking genius.By 1959, Picasso had been living in the south of France for over a decade, immersed in the Mediterranean landscape and culture. Works like *Les vendangeurs* reflect the vitality of this environment, its traditions, and its people. At the same time, the piece transcends its local setting, becoming a universal image of human connection to the land and the pleasures of harvest.Ultimately, Les vendangeurs stands as a testament to Picasso’s ability to breathe new life into an ancient theme through the modern medium of linocut. His technical mastery, combined with his unerring sense of form and movement, transforms a simple rural subject into an artwork of enduring elegance and energy — a celebration not only of the grape harvest but of the creative harvest of an artist at the height of his powers.Thematically, Picasso’s engagement with Manet’s work reflects his broader practice of reinterpreting the masters. Throughout his career, Picasso returned to canonical artworks — from Velázquez’s Las Meninas to Delacroix’s Women of Algiers — not to copy them, but to engage in a visual dialogue across centuries. In doing so, he asserted himself as both a student and a rival of the greats, probing their compositions, altering their narratives, and reasserting their relevance in a modern context. With Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, he channels Manet’s spirit of defiance and modernity while filtering it through his own post-Cubist sensibility.The result is a work that is both homage and reinvention. By paring away extraneous detail, Picasso focuses on the timeless human drama at the heart of Manet’s original — the interplay of gazes, the subtle gestures, the quiet yet charged intimacy of a group sharing space. Through the bold physicality of the linocut, these relationships are rendered with a monumental solidity that transcends the casual setting of a picnic.Ultimately, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe d’après Edouard Manet stands as a testament to Picasso’s dual mastery — as an interpreter of art history and as a printmaker of extraordinary skill. His ability to honor a masterwork while utterly transforming it into something unmistakably his own reflects not only his technical command but also his deep understanding of how images live, evolve, and speak across time. This 1954 linocut is a bridge between past and present, between Manet’s radical realism and Picasso’s modernist boldness, carved with the precision and confidence of a true master of the graphic arts.For more information on Les vendangeurs (The Grape Harvesters) by Pablo Picasso for sale, contact our galleries using the form below.

Price on Application

Auction History

Pablo Picasso - Les Vendangeurs

Les Vendangeurs · Pablo Picasso · Sotheby's · 2014-11 · $81,250

Pablo Picasso - Les Vendangeurs

Les Vendangeurs · Pablo Picasso · Christie's · 2007-09 · $41,806

Pablo Picasso - Les vendangeurs

Les vendangeurs · Pablo Picasso · Kornfeld · 2024-09 · $38,429

Pablo Picasso - Les Vendangeurs

Les Vendangeurs · Pablo Picasso · Sotheby's · 2015-11 · $35,000

Pablo Picasso - Les vendangeurs

Les vendangeurs · Pablo Picasso · Christie's · 2007-10 · $34,600

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1959

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1958

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1959

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1959

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1962

Pablo Picasso - Femme nue à la source, 1963

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1963

Pablo Picasso - Grande Tete De Femme (Bloch 1069), 1962

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1962

Pablo Picasso - Homme au batôn / Le Vieux bouffon, 1963

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1963

Pablo Picasso - Jacqueline au Bandeau, 1962

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1962

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1962

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Jacqueline au chapeau de paille

1962

Pablo Picasso - Jacqueline Lisant, 1964

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Jacqueline Lisant

1964

Pablo Picasso - L'Aubade, avec Femme Accoudee, 1959

Pablo Picasso

L'Aubade, avec Femme Accoudee

1959

Pablo Picasso - L'Etreinte (Bloch 1150), 1963

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Pablo Picasso - La Pique en Rouge et Jaune (The Bullfight in Red and Yellow), 1959

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1959

Pablo Picasso - Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe d'aprés Edouard Manet. (The Luncheon on the Grass after Edouard Manet), 1954

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Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe d'aprés Edouard Manet. (The Luncheon on the Grass after Edouard Manet)

1954

Pablo Picasso - Le Vieux bouffon, 1963

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1963

Pablo Picasso - Le Vieux Roi (B. 1152) (The Old King), 1963

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Le Vieux Roi (B. 1152) (The Old King)

1963

Pablo Picasso - Nature Morte a la Pasteque, 1962

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Nature Morte a la Pasteque

1962

Pablo Picasso - Nature morte à la suspension, 26 mars, 1962

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Nature morte à la suspension, 26 mars

1962

Pablo Picasso - Nature Morte Au Verre Sous La Lampe, 1962

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1962

Pablo Picasso - Nu Assis, 1962

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1962

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Pablo Picasso - Portrait de Femme a la Fraise et au Chapeau, 1962

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Portrait de Femme a la Fraise et au Chapeau

1962

Pablo Picasso - Portrait De Jacqueline (Bloch 923), 1959

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Portrait De Jacqueline (Bloch 923)

1959

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Portrait de Jacqueline Accoudée

1959

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Portrait de Jacqueline Au Chapeau De Paille Fleuri

1962

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Portrait de Jacqueline en Carmen (L'Espagnole)

1962

Pablo Picasso - Taureau et Picador, 1959

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Taureau et Picador

1959

Pablo Picasso - Tête de Femme au Chapeau, 1962

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Tête de Femme au Chapeau

1962

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Two Women by the Window | Deux femmes près de la fenêtre

1959

Pablo Picasso - Watermelon Still Life, 1962

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1962

Pablo Picasso - Woman Reclining and Man with a Guitar | Femme couchée et homme à la guitare,, 1959

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More series by Pablo Picasso

About the Linocut Series

Pablo Picasso Linocuts for Sale

Market Authority in Picasso's Revolutionary Print Medium

Guy Hepner New York presents an exceptional collection of Pablo Picasso linocuts, representing the artist's groundbreaking exploration of a medium he transformed between 1958 and 1963. The global art market returned to growth in 2025 according to the Art Basel & UBS Global Art Market Report 2026, following a $57.5 billion valuation in 2024, confirming sustained institutional confidence in blue-chip artists of Picasso's historical magnitude.

Picasso's market dominance remains unparalleled in modern art history. Christie's achieved $179.4 million for Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O) in 2015, while Nude, Green Leaves and Bust realized $106.5 million at Christie's in 2010. These landmark results establish the pricing architecture that supports collector confidence across all Picasso mediums, including his technically innovative linocut editions.

Series Context: The Vallauris Innovation

Pablo Picasso's engagement with linoleum cut printing emerged during his residence in Vallauris, the same southern French region where he revolutionized ceramic production at the Madoura pottery from 1947 to 1971, creating approximately 3,500 ceramic pieces documented in the scholarly record. Born in Málaga in 1881 and working until his death in 1973, Picasso approached the linocut medium with characteristic innovation, transforming what had been considered a craft technique into a vehicle for serious artistic expression.

The linocut series represents a concentrated period of technical experimentation spanning 1958 to 1963, during which Picasso developed the reduction printing method that would influence generations of printmakers. Rather than carving separate blocks for each color—the traditional approach—Picasso progressively cut away portions of a single linoleum block, printing each color stage before removing additional material. This technique demanded absolute precision, as each cutting decision was irreversible and the printing sequence predetermined.

The Zervos catalogue raisonné, comprising 33 volumes of scholarly documentation, establishes the academic foundation for Picasso authentication, while the Bloch catalogue specifically addresses his print oeuvre with systematic rigor essential for market verification.

Technical Mastery and Production Methods

Picasso's linocuts on Arches paper represent the intersection of industrial materials and fine art sensibility. Arches wove paper, manufactured in France since the 15th century, provided the archival substrate necessary for museum-quality permanence. The paper's consistent texture and exceptional receptivity to oil-based printing inks allowed Picasso to achieve the saturated color fields and precise linear definition characteristic of his strongest linocut impressions.

The reduction method Picasso championed created inherent edition limitations. Each successive color printing destroyed the previous state, meaning proof impressions from early states possess particular rarity within the market. Hand-signed and inscribed examples carry additional documentation value, establishing direct provenance connection to Picasso's studio practice.

Color linocuts demanded sophisticated registration systems to ensure precise alignment across multiple printing passes. Picasso's mastery of this technical challenge enabled him to create works of remarkable chromatic complexity while maintaining the bold graphic clarity that distinguishes his strongest print compositions.

Notable Works in the Collection

Bacchanale au Taureau Noir (Bloch 935), 1959 — This color linocut synthesizes Picasso's lifelong fascination with mythological subjects and Spanish bullfighting traditions. The Bloch catalogue number provides definitive scholarly reference essential for institutional acquisition consideration.

La Pique en Rouge et Jaune (The Bullfight in Red and Yellow), 1959 — Executed in Picasso's characteristic palette of Spanish ceremonial colors, this work demonstrates his ability to translate the kinetic drama of the corrida into the graphic medium's demands for compositional economy.

Jacqueline au chapeau à Fleurs I, 1962 — Picasso's final wife Jacqueline Roque appears throughout his late linocut production, her distinctive profile becoming an iconic motif of his final creative decades.

Portrait de Jacqueline en Carmen (L'Espagnole), 1962 — This three-color linocut on Arches paper merges portraiture with theatrical reference, connecting Jacqueline's image to the operatic tradition Picasso engaged throughout his career.

Faune et Chèvre, 1959 — Classical mythology pervades this composition, linking Picasso's linocut production to the Mediterranean iconographic traditions he explored in his Vallauris ceramics.

Boy with a Crown of Leaves (Jeune homme couronné de feuillage), 1959 — Hand-signed and inscribed examples of this classical subject demonstrate Picasso's continued dialogue with Greco-Roman visual traditions.

Investment Analysis and Market Positioning

Picasso linocuts occupy a strategic position within the broader Picasso market structure. While unique paintings establish record-breaking valuations at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, and Bonhams, prints provide collector access to authenticated Picasso works at acquisition levels appropriate for both emerging and established collections.

The Art Basel & UBS Global Art Market Report confirms continued institutional appetite for modern masters with established secondary market liquidity. Picasso's linocuts benefit from finite edition sizes established during the artist's lifetime, documented provenance chains, and catalogue raisonné verification through Bloch numbering—factors supporting long-term value retention.

Hand-signed impressions on Arches paper command premium positioning within the linocut market, while inscribed examples with documented recipient information provide enhanced provenance narratives attractive to institutional collectors and private foundations building museum-quality holdings.

Acquisition Through Guy Hepner

Guy Hepner New York provides comprehensive acquisition services for collectors seeking Pablo Picasso linocuts, including authentication verification, condition assessment, and provenance documentation.

Contact Guy Hepner New York to discuss current Picasso linocut availability and acquisition strategy tailored to your collection objectives.

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Les vendangeurs

About Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973, born Málaga, Spain) is the most productive and formally transformative artist in the history of Western art — a figure whose influence on twentieth-century painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics is so pervasive that it remains, more than fifty years after his death, genuinely difficult to assess. Born in Málaga to an art teacher father who recognised and encouraged his prodigious talent, Picasso studied in Barcelona and Madrid before arriving in Paris in the early years of the twentieth century, where the encounter with Cézanne, African art, and his own restless intelligence produced Cubism — perhaps the most radical rupture in the history of representation since the Renaissance.

Pablo Picasso prints for sale at Guy Hepner represent one of the most significant collecting opportunities in the modern art market. Our gallery offers original Picasso lithographs, linocuts, etchings, and aquatints — each accompanied by full provenance documentation and catalogue raisonné references. Whether you are seeking a signed Mourlot lithograph, a Vollard Suite etching, a Vallauris linocut, or a late aquatint, Guy Hepner has the expertise and inventory to assist collectors at every level.

Pablo Picasso Prints For Sale

Picasso's print output is among the richest and most varied in art history, spanning etchings, lithographs, linocuts, and aquatints produced across seven decades. Understanding the categories is essential to collecting intelligently.

Lithographs were produced primarily through Fernand Mourlot's atelier in Paris, where Picasso worked from 1945 onwards. Mourlot documented over 400 lithographs bearing Picasso's hand, ranging from abstract heads and Cubist still lifes to the monumental Toros y Toreros bull-fighting series. Editions typically run from 50 to 275 copies. Unsigned Mourlot lithographs trade between $3,000 and $40,000; signed examples command $15,000 to $150,000 or more depending on subject and condition.

Linocuts, produced primarily at Vallauris between 1958 and 1963 using Picasso's own colour-reduction technique, are among the most technically revolutionary of all his prints. By cutting progressively deeper into a single block, Picasso achieved complex colour sequences impossible by conventional means. Edition sizes are small — typically 50 copies — and signed linocuts frequently exceed $80,000 at auction.

Etchings span Picasso's entire career, from his earliest Parisian years through to the late suites of the 1960s and early 1970s. The medium suited his restless line perfectly, and his etched output includes some of the finest prints of the twentieth century. Edition sizes vary widely, from the 50 impressions of the Vollard Suite to smaller later editions. Prices range from $5,000 for minor early works to well over $500,000 for Vollard Suite masterpieces.

Aquatints combine etching's linear precision with tonal washes of extraordinary subtlety. Picasso's aquatint work, often produced in collaboration with master printer Roger Lacourière, includes some of his most formally sophisticated printed images. These prints are rarer than his lithographs and command significant premiums accordingly.

Authentication for all Picasso prints relies on the Bloch catalogue raisonné — the definitive scholarly record of his print output — supplemented by Mourlot's lithograph catalogue where applicable.

Pablo Picasso Paintings For Sale

Picasso's paintings represent the summit of the twentieth-century market. Understanding his periods is essential for collectors.

The Blue Period (1901–1904) produced austere, emotionally charged paintings on themes of poverty, isolation, and melancholy — elongated figures rendered in blue-grey tones that echo El Greco and carry an extraordinary psychological weight. Works from this period are among the most sought-after in the history of art.

The Rose Period (1904–1906) brought warmer hues and more tender subjects — circus performers, saltimbanques, and acrobats rendered with a new formal assurance. The transitional works that followed, leading to Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), represent the hinge on which the entire history of modern painting pivots.

The Cubist period (1907–1921), co-developed with Georges Braque, produced the most intellectually radical body of painting in the twentieth century. Analytic Cubism (1909–1912) fragmented forms into near-monochromatic facets; Synthetic Cubism (from 1912) introduced collage, typography, and bolder colour. Major Cubist paintings are virtually never available on the primary market; they appear at auction rarely and achieve extraordinary prices.

Picasso's auction record stands at $179,365,000 — achieved at Christie's New York in May 2015 for Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O), a 1955 work from his series responding to Delacroix. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932) reached $106,482,500 at Christie's in May 2010. These are benchmark figures for a career that produced well over 16,000 works catalogued by Zervos.

Collecting Picasso: What to Look For

The most desirable areas of the Picasso print market for serious collectors are well-defined.

The Vollard Suite (1930–1937): ninety-seven etchings (and three aquatints with Roger Lacourière) commissioned by dealer Ambroise Vollard. The suite is considered Picasso's greatest print achievement — 100 plates encompassing the Sculptor's Studio sequence, the Minotaur series, and intimate portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter. Published posthumously by Vollard's estate, the complete suite is extraordinarily rare. Individual plates now trade from $80,000 to over $500,000.

Suite 347 (1968): three hundred and forty-seven etchings completed in seven months when Picasso was eighty-six years old — an astonishing demonstration of creative energy in extreme old age. Themes include Degas's brothel scenes, Spanish picadors, Rembrandt, and Ingres. Published by Galerie Louise Leiris. These prints represent exceptional value relative to their historical importance.

Mourlot lithographs: Fernando Mourlot's catalogue documents Picasso's lithographic output with scholarly precision. The Bloch numbers (B.1 through B.2042 for the complete print oeuvre) and Mourlot numbers together form the authentication framework used by every major auction house.

Crommelynck etchings: Piero and Aldo Crommelynck's Paris workshop produced Picasso's late etchings with extraordinary technical refinement. The 347 Suite plates were printed here, as were the 156 Series etchings (1970–1972) — Picasso's final major print campaign.

Condition criteria for print collecting: look for clean, wide margins with no trimming; avoid foxing (rust-coloured spots from paper acidity) or tide lines; fading affects lithographs most severely — examine under strong light. Impressions on Japan paper or with remarques command significant premiums.

Picasso Authentication

Authentication for Picasso works operates through established institutional channels.

For prints: the Bloch catalogue raisonné (Picasso: His Graphic Work, Volumes I–IV) provides reference numbers for all known prints. Mourlot's catalogue covers lithographs specifically. The Succession Picasso estate stamp appears on many posthumously published editions. Any print without clear catalogue raisonné reference and provenance chain should be examined by a specialist before purchase.

For paintings and works on paper: the Comité Picasso (now dissolved) was the primary authentication body; the Succession Picasso now handles estate matters. The Zervos catalogue raisonné (33 volumes) is the authoritative scholarly record for paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Expert authentication by a recognised Picasso specialist is essential for any major purchase.

Guy Hepner Gallery, 177 Tenth Avenue, New York, offers full provenance verification and catalogue raisonné consultation for all Picasso works. We provide free, confidential valuations for collectors looking to sell, and access to a global network of qualified buyers. Our expertise spans ceramics, prints, linocuts, drawings, and paintings across all periods of the artist's work.

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