The 347 Series are among the last hand-signed etchings and engravings Picasso ever created, with each of the original plates being etched or engraved by the hand of Picasso alone.
The 347 Series:
• 347 different etchings, engravings, drypoints
• The last great collection of Picasso graphic works
• The cancelled plates are with the publisher Galerie Louise Leiris
 |
| 347 Series: No. 34 |
Background on the 347 Series:
In just seven months (March 16-October 5, 1968) Picasso engaged in a historical battle against the wave of conceptual and theoretical “art” that was the rage in avant-garde circles in the late 1960’s. He rejected the notions of “anyone can be an artist, and anything can be art,” -- the rallying cry of the conceptualists. Picasso resisted not through words, but through a herculean creativity that pointed the way back to aesthetic beauty, technical brilliance, and the narrative of art history: the building blocks of his life and art. It is doubtful that any artist will ever live again who will match this achievement. Consider that Rembrandt made approximately 300 etchings in his lifetime. Picasso made 347 in seven months. The tirage of hand-signed examples of the 347 Series consists of 50 numbered examples, plus 17 artist's proof examples; 66 of the 347 images were also created for a small folio called Tales of Celestine; 400 folios were created, none were hand-signed.
