Aquatint Still Life With Skull, Sea Urchins and Onions By Pablo Picasso

This is a signed and numbered, colored aquatint etching by Picasso, circa 1955, depicting a still life painting from 1947 known as "Nature Morte, Crane, Oursins et Oignons", or "Still Life with Skull, Sea Urchins and Onions". Sheet measures approximately 22" x 30" (56 cm x 76 cm) and printed area measures 16.75" x 24.5" (43 cm x 62 cm). Numbered (12 of 150) and signed in pencil by the artist. Printed on woven paper with Arches watermark along the bottom edge. Published by Atelier Lacouriere, Paris. This is a bold and colorful work by Picasso, and one of his more appealing still lifes.

this work does not have a print catalogue raisonne number (from Bloch, Baer or Geiser) for it is an aquatint after an original Picasso painting from 1947. The original work is noted in Christian Zervos' Catalogue de l'oeuvre, volume 15, which details Picasso's paintings, pastels and drawings from 1946 to 1953. We believe the original painting may be held by Musee Picasso at Château Grimaldi, Antibes, France.

This aquatint is being sold on behalf of a collector on the upper west side in Manhattan (New York, Ny) who purchased the piece in Paris in 1970, along with another aquatint that we also have for sale. It was just recently restored by Alan Firkser of Paper Conservation Studio, Inc., 1841 Broadway in New York, Ny. Restoration services included: surface dry cleaning; foxing treatment, deacidification, sizing treatment; and flattening. (Please see below for image of the restoration invoice.) Condition is excellent.

this highest known auction sale price for an aquatint of this painting occurred just recently on 10/3/06 at Sotheby's London when lot 211 sold for 20,400 Bp ($38,148), including buyer's premium. The second highest known auction sale price for this aquatint was a $36,000 sale (including buyer's premium) for lot 265 at Sotheby's New York on April 29, 2005. And on October 29, 2004, Sotheby's New York sold another numbered print from this series in lot 294 for $30,000, including buyer's premium.

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