This is a limited edition lithograph signed in the plate by Pablo Picasso entitled “Portrait of Sylvette” (1954) from the private collection of his niece, Domaine Picasso. The model for this was (Lydia) Sylvette David, or Lydia Corbett, her married name. She was a French woman who worked in a pottery studio near Picasso’s studio in Vallauris. In the summer of 1953, he created 40 works inspired by her.
Lithographs are authorized copies of an original work created by the artist or other skilled craftsman. Since the process for creating lithographs can be just as time consuming and detailed as an original painting, the printing runs are kept low to preserve the value. A lithograph may have a set of numbers expressed as a fraction on one corner. This means that the lithograph was printed as a limited series. This limited edition lithograph is number 6 in a series of 500 printed.
Pablo Picasso is considered to be one of the most influential Modern artists of the 20 th
century. Picasso was born October 25, 1881 in Spain. At a very young age, he was recognized for his artistic ability by his art-teacher father. Picasso enjoyed creating his art though many different artistic mediums and became a master in each. In the mid 1900’s Picasso sought out lithograph medium and had such respect for the craft that he became dedicated to creating masterpieces in the medium that are highly collectible. Picasso passed away on April 8, 1973 in France.
