Myth and metamorphosis: Picasso's classical prints of the 1930s

Abstract

"The book's argument is built around detailed analyses of several prints and print series: Picasso's illustrations for Ovid's Metamorphoses; the etchings of the Vollard Suite, and The Minotauromachy. Common to all of them, the book shows, is a strong engagement not only with the classical but with the viewer as well. In this latter regard, Picasso's prints are clearly at odds with the understanding of the relationship between classical art and its audience that prevailed throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - an understanding that held the work's purported autonomy to mirror the viewer's own.

Contents

In the background of Picasso's classical prints -- Metamorphic images: Picasso's illustrations of Ovid -- The structure of the Vollard Suite -- Of myth and Picasso's minotaurs -- The classical prints in the context of Picasso's oeuvre.