The Unknown Masterpiece (Le chef-d'oeuvre inconnu)

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The Unknown Masterpiece (Le chef-d'oeuvre inconnu)

Artist Pablo Picasso (Spanish (active France), 1881-1973)

Publisher Ambroise Vollard, Paris, 1931

Printer text: Aimé Jourde, Paris; etchings: Louis Fort, [Paris]

Author Honoré de Balzac (French, 1799-1850)

Date1931

DimensionsBook: H: 13 in. (330 mm); W: 10 1/4 in. (260 mm); Depth: 1 1/2 in. (38 mm).
Page: H: 12 3/4 in. (324 mm); W: 10 in. (254 mm).

MediumOriginal prints: 13 etchings, 68 wood engravings, including cover. Text: letterpress. Paper: cream wove B.F.K. Rives paper, watermarked.

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineMrs. George W. Stevens Fund

Object number

1984.24A-N

Not on View

Label TextBalzac's story tells of an artist who labors on a painting for years. Torn between the ecstasies of creation and the quest for perfection, the artist reworks the portrait again and again, but when he finally shows it to friends, all they see is a confused mass of colors. The artist, in despair, burns his canvasses and dies. Picasso's 12 etchings explore the underlying theme of the novel: the artist's relationship to his model, who, in turn, inspires his work. The book is "introduced" by 16 pages reproducing Picasso's dot and line drawings.Published Referencescf. Castleman, Riva, A Century of Artists Books, New York, 1994, p. 28

cf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 225., 1961

cf. Strachan, W. J., The artist and the book in France: the 20th century livre d'artiste, New York, 1969, p. 339, repr.

cf. Johnson, Una E., Ambroise Vollard, éditeur: Prints, Books, Bronzes, New York, 1977, no. 191

cf. Wheeler, Monroe, Modern Painters and Sculptors as Illustrators, New York, 1946, p. 109

cf. Hogben, Carol, Rowan Watson, editors, From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists’ Illustrated Books, London, 1985, no. 92, reprs.

cf. The Frank Crowninshield Collection of Modern French Illustrated Books, New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1943, no. 604, 604a

cf. Johnson, Robert Flynn, Artists' Books in the Modern Era 1870--2000: the Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books, San Francisco, 2001, no. 54.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, in conjunction with the Norton Simon Museum, Picasso: Graphic Magician, Nov. 7, 1999 - Jan. 16, 2000. (Page shown: Title page).