Pablo Picasso / Louis Aragon — Shakespeare
Publisher: Cercle d’Art, Paris
Deluxe edition NO XIX with Handsigned Litograph
Year of publication: 1965
Text: Louis Aragon
Direction: Charles Feld
Typography, text & binding: Imprimerie Union, Paris
Printer of illustrations: Mourlot Studios (original lithograph); Imprimerie Moderne du Lion (reproductions)
Paper: Vélin d’Arches
Format: approx. 48.5 × 33.5 cm
Condition: Mint – complete copy
Description
Shakespeare is one of the most important late illustrated books by Pablo Picasso, conceived in close collaboration with his longtime friend Louis Aragon on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth.
The project originated in early 1965, when Picasso executed a series of portraits of Shakespeare in pencil and ink. From these drawings, he selected one image to be transferred to stone and printed as an original lithograph, conceived specifically as the frontispiece for the luxury edition of the book.
Illustrations
This copy includes:
1 original transfer lithograph by Pablo Picasso
Subject: Portrait de Shakespeare
Medium: lithograph
Image size approx. 22.2 × 33.5 cm
Printed on Vélin d’Arches
Signed and dated in pencil by Picasso, and dated in the stone
Executed at Mourlot
Reproductions of 11 Picasso drawings, printed in the center of the book, documenting the preparatory portrait studies executed in February 1965
The lithograph is an autonomous original graphic work and one of Picasso’s most recognizable late literary portraits.
Edition Details
Total luxury edition: 150 copies on Vélin d’Arches with the original lithograph
125 numbered copies: 1–CXXV
25 hors commerce copies: HC I – HC XXV
Additional editions:
French and English editions without the lithograph (larger print runs, not applicable here)
This example belongs to the deluxe edition with lithograph, printed on Vélin d’Arches.
Catalogue References
Cramer: no. 131
Reuße: no. 858
Mourlot: no. 405
Bloch: no. 1197
Orozco: Picasso – 70 Years of Book Illustration, no. 229
Condition
Complete copy
Original red publisher’s binding preserved
Lithograph fresh and clean
No foxing, stains, or restorations
Overall condition: mint
Significance
Shakespeare represents one of Picasso’s most accomplished late editorial projects, combining an original signed Mourlot lithograph, literary collaboration with Louis Aragon, and a precise historical context tied to the Shakespeare centenary. The book occupies a key position within Picasso’s graphic oeuvre of the 1960s and is consistently listed across all major catalogues raisonnés.
