Aquatint
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Pablo Picasso Taureau et Picador For Sale
Pablo Picasso
Taureau et Picador, 1959
Original linocut printed in three colors (brown, black, beige) from one block on wove paper bearing the “ARCHES” watermark. Signed lower right Titled lower left
20 3/4 x 25 1/4 in 52.7 x 64 cm
About this work
Taureau et Picador (Bull and Picador) is a commanding example of Pablo Picasso’s late-period mastery of linocut printmaking. Bold, rhythmic, and steeped in Spanish cultural symbolism, the work encapsulates Picasso’s lifelong fascination with the bullfight while showcasing his extraordinary inventiveness within the linocut medium. Created in the 1950s–60s—a time when Picasso was actively collaborating with printers in the South of France—this print exemplifies the artist’s ability to merge tradition and modernism into a striking visual language of power and motion.The composition is striking for its stylised, almost mythological depiction of a bullfight. A powerful black bull, caught in mid-leap, occupies the left half of the image, its curving form outlined with fluid, economical lines. Opposite it, the picador—mounted on a muscular horse—drives a lance forward with ceremonial posture. The scene is both dynamic and composed, conveying motion through sweeping curves while retaining the monumentality of classical frieze.Picasso limits his palette to earthy tones: rich black, sienna, and ochre. The stark contrast between dark and light enhances the drama of the image, while the flat areas of colour—typical of linocut—emphasise form over texture. The elegance of the horse, the menace of the bull, and the stoic poise of the picador are stylised into abstract shapes that dance across the surface in a harmonious, almost musical composition.This stylisation borders on abstraction. The bull’s head is angular, mask-like; the horse’s muscles are simplified into looping forms; the picador’s hat and costume evoke classical Spanish dress, but reduced to emblematic symbols. Yet the work loses none of its emotional impact—in fact, its power is heightened by this distillation.The bullfight (corrida) is one of the most enduring motifs in Picasso’s oeuvre, appearing from his early Blue Period through his last decades. For Picasso, the bullfight was more than a spectacle—it was a ritual of life, death, and artistic creation. The bull symbolised primal energy and masculine power, while the matador or picador often stood as an allegorical self-portrait: the artist as hero, manipulator, and sacrificer.In Taureau et Picador, the encounter between man and beast is stylised into a timeless drama. This is not merely a depiction of a cultural tradition, but an existential dance—structured, brutal, and sublime. The arena is suggested but not shown; all attention is focused on the figures, locked in a moment of tension that transcends narrative.Linocut, a relief printing process using carved linoleum blocks, became a favourite medium for Picasso in the 1950s, especially during his time in Vallauris and Mougins. Collaborating with the printer Hidalgo Arnéra, Picasso pushed the technical boundaries of the medium, inventing new ways to layer colour and re-cut the same block for successive impressions.Traditionally seen as a modest, almost amateur medium, linocut was elevated by Picasso to a form of sophisticated expression. In Taureau et Picador, he demonstrates total control over the carving process—using sweeping lines, minimal incisions, and refined colour separations to achieve a fluid, sculptural quality.His approach to linocut was intuitive and sculptural, treating the plate as a subtractive drawing process. The resulting prints are bold, direct, and emblematic—capable of evoking myth and metaphor in a language of refined simplicity.Taureau et Picador is a masterwork of modern printmaking and a quintessential statement of Picasso’s artistic identity. With this linocut, he transforms a traditional Spanish subject into an abstracted, symbolic encounter of raw force and poised control. It embodies his late-career brilliance—his ability to strip away detail and arrive at an image that is as ancient as it is modern, as stylised as it is visceral. In both form and meaning, it stands as a testament to Picasso’s genius as a draftsman, storyteller, and printmaker without peer.For more information, contact our galleries via the inquiry form below.
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Edition & Provenance
- Year
- 1959
- Medium
- Original linocut printed in three colors (brown, black, beige) from one block on wove paper bearing the “ARCHES” watermark. Signed lower right Titled lower left
- Edition
- Edition of 50 + 20 APs
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.