Model, Painting, and Sculpture (Modèle, tableau et sculpture) 1933

This etching by Pablo Picasso shows an artist’s studio with a model, painting, and sculpture. It was made using a printmaking technique. A metal plate, likely copper, was coated with a waxy, acid-resistant substance. Picasso then scratched his design through this coating, exposing the metal. When the plate was immersed in acid, the exposed lines were ‘bitten,’ creating grooves. Ink was then applied to these grooves, the surface wiped clean, and paper pressed against the plate to transfer the image. Notice how this process influences the image’s appearance, particularly the delicate, linear quality, and how the etched lines vary in thickness and depth, adding tone and shadow. There’s also the question of labor. Printmaking is indirect, mediated by tools and chemistry. It invites comparison between the artist's hand and the kind of labor that goes into industrial production, a timely question at the period. Ultimately, this print requires us to consider the intricate relationship between the artist's hand, the mechanical process, and the final image, challenging our notions of originality and artistic creation.