The Kunsthandel Ridderplaat are exhibiting a unique collection featuring the works of the infamous Picasso, entitled Portret Imaginair (Imaginary Portraits). Here is the story of the collection.

In the spring of 1969, painting materials were delivered to Picasso's studio in Mougins. The large cardboard boxes used for transport were put in a corner of the studio. When everything was ready and the studio filled with canvases, Picasso's attention was remarkably drawn more to the lovely brown cardboard than to the canvases themselves. At that point the painter, impulsive as ever, decided that the ridgelines in the cardboard would be a central motif in the final composition.

Even at the age of 87, he was still painting with enjoyment and passion and, with generous strokes, created the 29 paintings that would come to be known as the "Imaginary Portraits".

Under Picasso's supervision, Marcel Salinas, one of France's most gifted litho printers, printed lithographs in brilliant colours in the design of the gouaches, always using brown striped cardboard or gray wrapping paper as a background. When Picasso saw the first proofs he signed them all without hesitation with 'bon à tirer' (good for printing) and, in 1970 after a year of hard work, the entire edition was complete. The lithographs were signed by Picasso in the stone and printed.

The series Imaginary Portraits by Picasso consists of two editions numbered in pencil: one edition is marked F and the other A. Two hundred and fifty copies of each edition were printed. The F-series was intended for the French art market, and the A-series was released in America. There are no hand-signed lithographs of this series in circulation.

Visit this breathtaking collection at the Kunsthandel Ridderplaat gallery in the historical centre of The Hague.
 

Address:

Noordeinde 146, The Hague

Openinghours July 2010:
Thursday to Saturday 13:00 - 17:00 and on appointment

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