This is one of the only bonified and documented prints of the poignant blue period painting titled "Mother and Child with Shawl." This wonderful work is one of only a handful of blue period works that Picasso authorized to be printed during his lifetime.

Published in 1966 by the Museu Picasso in Barcelona and printed by Foto-Repro of Barcelona, this work is from the 'avant la lettre' edition. (Another 20,000 copies created for the Picasso Museum in Barcelona exist with the exhibition lettering printed across the image.) Printed on Arches wove watermarked paper, from the edition of 60 and with the publisher's blindstamp appears in the lower left side of the image. Signed by Picasso in pencil in the lower right.

A piece that is one of the best examples of Picasso's ability to extract emotion from even the most reserved viewer. Using a predominance of blue that expresses the distress and sorrow of the subjects, Picasso transforms the viewing experience from one of passive speculation, to passionate suffering on behalf of the subjects. As our empathy for the two helpless subjects takes over we realized that such strong emotion has been elicited by the dominant blue color. Viewers can note, it is not only the color blue, which indeed dominates the print, but it is how Picasso handles the blue, and uses it to depict eyes that express a lifetime of pain, lips that wither as the days pass without any food, and the single weathered hand that clutches the child as if it is grasping not only the infant but a last shred of hope.

Picasso's famous channeling of emotion into the canvas during his "Blue Period" is perhaps a reflection of his times, where an intellectual reevaluation of life coupled with a dreary perception of existence created some of the greatest and most powerful artwork of the twentieth century. A contemporary of Baudelaire and Rimbaud, who used their pain to drive their art, Picasso was also one of the first artists to meld pain and suffering and artistic mastery to create works that were both sincere and troubling.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that I will enclose with the sale of the work) :

1) Czwiklitzer, Christopher, Picasso's Posters, Random House, 1970. Listed as plate 231 on page 341.

2) Rodrigo Luis Carlos, Picasso in his Posters, Arte Ediciones, Volume I, 1992. Listed on page 326 as plate 149.

3) Rodrigo Luis Carlos, Picasso in his Posters, Arte Ediciones, Volume III, 1992. Listed on page 1496 as plate 149.

About the Framing:
Conservation framed with museum quality archival materials. This work is set in a robust Spanish style black and gold leaf frame. The brilliant gold tone of the sculpted moulding in tandem with the smooth black inner banding accentuates and compliments the loose quality of the image and deep contrasting tones in this work. Completed with white linen wrapped mattes, and a matching gold inner fillet, this work is set behind an archival Plexiglas cover.