Descripción
This poster was designed by Mourlot, taking as its subject an aquatint entitled “L’Egypptienne” made by Picasso in Paris on 11 May 1953. 50 copies were made, all printed by Lacourière, except for three which were edited by Aldo and Piero Crommelynck. One copy of this work exists in the National Hermitage Museum in Leningrad. Gift of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler.
Neither this poster nor its motif has been reproduced on any other poster.
The poster reproduces a work that is special for its style and the mystery it carries. In commenting on it, we must take into account the extremely painful time Picasso was going through in May 1953, when this work was made.
In 1953, his relationship with Françoise, who had left for Paris with their children, Paloma and Claude, in March, deteriorated deeply and she practically left him. At the same time, Picasso’s romance with Geneviève Laporte, his young, occasional lover, had been interrupted by the death of his close friend Paul Eluard on 18 November. Geneviève had been deeply moved by this event and had decided to spend some time alone. Picasso had also been deeply affected by Eluard’s death.
It was during this period that ‘L’Egyptienne’ was produced. The enigma lies in the way in which the Cubist Expressionist style developed here. Its monumentality both attracts and disturbs the viewer by its overwhelming effect, due to the broad brushstrokes, the marked contrast between the black and white of the forms, the drawing of the hands and the shining hair surrounding the entire face and the profile views of the double face.
