States of Play: Prints from Rembrandt to Delsarte
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Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), Jacqueline with Glossy Hair, 1962. State iii/v: red on yellow on beige (left); state v/v: black on blue on red on yellow on beige (right). Linocuts on white wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund and purchase through generosity of Jeanne and Geoff Champion and Barbara K. Wheaton, 2018.308.5, 2018.308.9. Artwork: © Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Harvard Art Museums; © President and Fellows of Harvard College.
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Cancelled plate for Hatching (front endpaper)
with masterprinter Aldo Crommelynck at Atelier Crommelynck, Paris
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According to the catalogue raisonné, the edition numbers 60 prints, of which 20 feature a “remarque.” A “remarque” refers to a small image, emblem or symbol in the margin of a print. The catalogue raisonné specifies that the "remarque" for these 20 prints takes the shape of a green sailboat set in the lower left corner of the margin. This particular print is a trial proof without the "remarque" and with marginal annotations about ink types and colors.
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Jacqueline with Glossy Hair (state iii/v: red on yellow on beige)
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Jacqueline with Glossy Hair (state v/v: black on blue on red on yellow on beige)
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Jacqueline with Glossy Hair (state iv/v: blue on red on yellow on beige)
Immerse yourself in the world of printmaking, tracing how artists move step by step to painstakingly rework and refine their images.
Spanning more than three centuries, the works in this exhibition—by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Lee Krasner, Jacques Philippe Le Bas, and Louis Delsarte—unveil the layers of creative revision, correction, and adjustment behind finished prints. Central to this process is the concept of a “print state,” which traditionally refers to a version of a print that precedes the final product. The exhibition explores how artists across time have maximized the iterative potential of states, for reasons ranging from the practical to the whimsical. By decoding creative choices that the artist pursued or abandoned in each successive step, the exhibition helps uncover the full breadth of experimentation and demystifies printmaking terminology and techniques.
The works on view, which also include prints by Anthony van Dyck, Louise Nevelson, Paul Signac, Edvard Munch, Albert Besnard, Félix Hilaire Buhot, Sol LeWitt, and others, are drawn from the Harvard Art Museums collections.
Curated by Elizabeth M. Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints, Harvard Art Museums; with contributions by Elie Glyn (Assistant Director for Exhibitions), Thea Goldring (Graduate Student Intern, Division of European and American Art, Spring/Summer 2019), Casey Kane Monahan (Cunningham Curatorial Assistant for the Collection, Division of European and American Art), Matt Roza (Exhibition Designer), and Christina Taylor (Assistant Paper Conservator).
This exhibition was made possible by the Robert M. Light Print Department Fund. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund.