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Faune Dévoilant une Femme (Satyr and Sleeping Woman)
Faune Dévoilant une Femme (Satyr and Sleeping Woman)

Faune Dévoilant une Femme (Satyr and Sleeping Woman)

Artist (Spanish, 1881–1973)
Date1936
MediumEtching and lift-ground aquatint
DimensionsPlate: 12 3/8 × 16 1/4 inches (31.4 × 41.3 cm);
Frame: 12 1/2 × 16 7/16 inches (31.8 × 41.8 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of the Museum Advisory Council in honor of Frank Robinson
Terms
  • Prints
  • aquatint
  • Etching
  • Lift-ground aquatint
  • Etching
  • Satyrs
  • Sleeping
  • Sex
  • Nudity
  • Rape
  • Horns
  • Beds
  • Paper
  • Spanish
Object number2001.001
Label CopyPicasso’s graphic work spanned more than seventy years and resulted in more than one thousand prints executed in every technique. Here he uses aquatint as a painterly medium to describe the room lit with a shaft of sunlight. The satyr unveils the sleeping woman reverentially. He is shown as a voyeur or witness in this evocative scene that references Rembrandt’s famous etching Jupiter and Antiope made nearly three centuries earlier. This is the last print in the famous Vollard Suite, a series of one hundred prints commissioned by Ambroise Vollard, Picasso’s first dealer. Made over a period of seven years, the suite of prints reflects Picasso’s relationship with his muse and mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter, the anxiety of war, and the fast-changing political situation in Europe. (“Highlights from the Collection: 45 Years at the Johnson," curated by Stephanie Wiles and presented at the Johnson Museum January 27–July 22, 2018)