Pablo Picasso, original print, The Turkey (Le Dindon), 1942, from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle

Size:  48.5 x 54.5 cm, print inside mount 26.5 x 31.5 cm (10.5 x 12.5 inches)

Condition:  Print in very good condition, mount and frame new

This superb print is from a series of 31 animal prints which were Picasso's first use of the sugar-lift aquatint method of etching.  Picasso, who has been making prints since about 1904, was introduced to the technique by the printer Roger Lacouriere.  It was particularly suitable for capturing the varied tones in a complex visual subject, and therefore provided the inspiration for this series, which was to illustrate a deluxe edition of texts from Histoire Naturelle by the 18th century French writer Le Comte de Buffon.

Picasso made the etchings in 1936, but their publication was delayed for various reason, and it was not until 1942 that they were printed by Lacouriere published by Martin Fabiani of Paris. 226 copies were published, before the etching plates were defaced. This is one of the 226 proofs of the Turkey.  36 of the edition had an added title in ink - this is one of the 190 which were not titled. (See Brigitte Baehr, Picasso Peintre-Graveur, 1986, Vol 3, page 29 ff).  None of the prints were signed by Picasso.

The sugar lift aquatint method involves the artist creating a positive image on the copper plate using a sugar based solution.  Any method can be used - brush, pen, even fingers. The plate is then covered with a protective layer all over, but this is washed away where the sugar solution has been applied, leaving the exposed copper. The plate is then covered in an aquatint solution which will enable control over the tone of the etching, and the plate is etched in an acid bath.  Many applications and etchings may be made to create the final effect, and prints may be taken half way through the process, resulting in different "states" of the print.

This print is the fourth and final state of the print and is on wove paper with a watermark (Ambroise).  Previous owner's notes suggest it was exhibited at some point by the Arthur Tooth gallery in London.  On the back of the print, in tiny pencil letters, is written what looks like "Mrs Oppenheim".

The print shows among other things how versatile Picasso was - this etching was made a year before his Cubist painting Guernica - and the level of humour and observation he brought to his work.  This piece never ceases to show up another tiny detail of interest every time you look at it.