1910 (print); 1911 (publication)

Mademoiselle Léonie Seated on a Chaise-Longue

Spanish, 1881 - 1973

At the height of his radical spatial experiments, Picasso made this print as one of four illustrations for Max Jacob’s (French, 1876 - 1944) novel Saint Matorel. The neck and face of Madmoiselle Leonie, wife of the story’s protagonist, near the top center, and the legs of the chaise-lounge at lower left, are barely discernable among the fractured planes, modeled with dense crosshatching and slight, parallel strokes that dissipate into empty spaces. Texture and ambiance is lent to the setting by areas of uncorrected “foul biting,” where acid accidentally penetrated the ground, appearing as rough smudges when printed. Today, Picasso’s Saint Matorel etchings are considered defining works of Analytical Cubist printmaking.