Pablo Picasso-"Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman"

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was born on the 25^th of October 1881 and died on the 8^th of April 1973. In life he became a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer and poet who spent most of his adult life in France. A rather peculiar print by Picassos is “Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman”. This print was the last in the sequence of one hundred prints in his collection called The Vollard Suite. The series depicted mostly mythological characters and themes as well as allusions to Picasso’s relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walther. The print “Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman” is specifically based around Rembrandt’s engraving Jupiter and Antiope which was produced in 1659. The print itself is an aquatint and sugar lift etching with engraving on copper in black, on ivory laid paper. It measures in at 340mm x 445mm. Some people say that this print was based around Picasso and his wife of ten years Marie-Thérèse Walther. Faun who possibly represented Picasso and Antiope his wife. In Greek mythology, Antiope was the daughter of the King of Thebes (Nycteus). Zeus known as Jupiter in roman mythology was attracted to Antiopes’ beauty and disguised himself as a half human creature who had the horns, legs and hooves of a goat known as a faun in roman mythology. In my opinion I personally don’t like this piece. I think my opinion is mainly based around the subject matter. In most works of art I like the fact of not completely understanding why it is, what it is but the whole story around this print, I just don’t like and particularly understand.