El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz.

1969. PICASSO, Pablo. El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz. Three volumes. [12], XI, [1], 69, [7] pp. Illustrated with one signed engraving and 12 etchings by Picasso, and a preface by Rafael Alberti. Folio, 370 x 470 mm, bound loose as issued in the original wrappers and vellum-covered slipcase. The whole preserved in a cloth folding box. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili and Ediciones de la Cometa, 1969. A Spanish production in every sense, in this Picasso book Picasso illustrated his own poetry based upon his life and youth in Andalucia. The title bears reference to the painting by El Greco, an artist very much admired by Picasso. Picasso began this poem in 1957 during a period of renewed interest in his Spanish heritage. Included in the work is a facsimile of Picasso's original manuscript of the poem (written in coloured pencils). To illustrate his autobiographical poetry, the artist selected one of his engravings from 1939 and etchings finished between 1966 and 1967. Printed and published by the publishing house Gustavo Gili of Barcelona, with a prologue-poem by Rafael Alberti, El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz includes a total of thirteen Picasso etchings of circus scenes and allegorical images infused with eroticism, all echoing the artist's Spanish homeland and influences therefrom. One of an edition of 263 copies on Romani wove. It is notable that the present publication was the subject of a single exhibition at the Fundacion Picasso ("Pablo Ruiz Picasso: El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz," May, 2004). Goeppert 146. Bloch 1465-1477. Johnson, Artists' Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000, No. 92.