Pablo Picasso

(Spanish, 1881-1973)

Sueño y Mentira de Franco (The Dream and Lie of Franco the complete set of two)

, 1937

etchings with aquatint

each signed and numbered 49/150 in pencil

12 3/8 x 16 5/8 inches.

Lot Essay:

Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy.

-Pablo Picasso

Commenced by Picasso in January 8, 1937, Sueno y Mentira de Franco (The Dream and Lie of Franco) is a vitriolic artistic response to the onset of the Spanish Civil War, which began in July 1936. Although the artist had left Spain for France at the turn of the 20th century, his former home continued to exert an influence. The atrocities committed by General Francisco Franco’s military campaign spurred Picasso to openly condemn the regime with the creation of the present work.

Composed as a grim comic, the two prints are each subdivided into three rows of three scenes that together form an eighteen-scene narrative. Picasso executed the images on the plates from left to right, but because of the printing inversion of etched plates, the scenes on paper must be read right to left. Rather than correcting the mistake, the artist chose to keep the reversal in order to express the chaos of war.

Beginning in the first plate, General Franco is depicted as a grotesque medieval knight carrying out parodies of heroic feats. He is shown being gored by a bull, a symbol of Spain; dressed as a woman; and riding a pig. On the second plate, in the upper right image, the general is devouring the innards of his own horse, which he has just killed. The remaining scenes were added on June 7, six weeks after the Basque town of Guernica was levelled by bombs. The images include a portrayal of a screaming figure and a wailing woman grieving over a dead child. These scenes are directly related to Picasso’s powerful mural Guernica, also created in 1937.

On each plate, Picasso has etched the date he began the work. Not only does this document the artworks, but also overtly declares his critique of the violence. In yet another act of defiance, all proceeds from the sale of prints were donated by Picasso to Spain’s Republican government. The pair of prints were produced in an edition of 800 with a stamped signature as well as an edition of 150 on larger sheets with pencil signatures. The present works are part of the rare hand-signed edition of 150.

Sueño y Mentira de Franco (The Dream and Lie of Franco the complete set of two)

Sueño y Mentira de Franco (The Dream and Lie of Franco the complete set of two)