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A rare etching, extensively hand-coloured in red ink by the artist, 1934, on wide margin Montval laid paper, signed, inscribed ‘For Lacourière’ and numbered 16/15 in the same red ink, 46 x 35.2 cm. (18.1 x 13.8 in). Bridgette Baer states that Picasso signed and numbered 15 impressions of this work in red ink, she then cites this special hand-coloured 16th impression which was given by the artist to Roger Lacourière in her catalogue raisonné of Picasso, ‘Painter-Engraver Volume II’.
The present impression of Pablo Picasso’s Flûtiste et Jeune Fille au Tambourin is unquestionably amongst the rarest of works from the Vollard Suite. Dedicated to his friend Roger Lacourière who undertook the immense task of printing of the Vollard Suite, the work is also exquisitely hand coloured in red ink. This stunning, unique, example is one of only a very few known hand-coloured etchings by Picasso. The graceful brushstrokes deftly follow and enhance the delicate, sensual robes of the flûtiste and his muse, exemplifying great Picasso’s mastery of line. Hand-coloured etchings such as this were given by Picasso to only his closest friends and collaborators, they are rarely seen outside of museums and the finest of collections.
