John Szoke

06/26/2018

B0230 Faune dévoilant une Dormeuse (Jupiter et Antiope, d'après Rembrandt) (S.V. 27)
1936 (June 12, Paris)
Sugarlift aquatint and burin with scraper printed on Montval laid paper with Montgolfier watermarkFrom the Suite Vollard (S.V. 27), edition of 50 of the sixth (final) state.

06/04/2018

X-ray of Edvard Munch left hand, 1892

In 1898, Munch met Tulla Larsen. They lived together for four stormy years of ups and downs. One night, during a violent quarrel, Munch was shot in his left hand. Tulla disappeared never to be seen again.“With his arm in a sling, he travelled into town. His hand was giving him tremendous pain, and he had to drink Cognac to anaesthetize himself.” 1
1. TOJNER, Poul Erick. Munch: In his Own Words. Munich, London, New York, Prestel, 2001, 224p.

05/15/2018

Edward Munch - Madonna 1895 - 1902 Lithograph “A strong naked arm – a powerful bronzed neck – a young woman lays her head on the arched breast.She closes her eyes and listens with open, quivering mouth to the words he whispers into her long, flowing hair. I should fashion it just as I saw it now but in a blue haze.”Edvard Munch, describing a vision he had in a Paris nightclub in 1890 (printed in Origins of the Frieze of Life, 1929)While Munch claimed that the inspiration for this work was a model in Berlin, various commentators note the subject’s resemblance to both Munch’s mother and several of his former lovers.

04/25/2018

Poster advertising the shadow puppets at Els Quatre Gats, Ramon Casas and Miquel Utrillo,1897

During his Barcelona period, Picasso and his friends frequented Els Quatre Gats. “It was in fact modeled on the bohemian cabarets of Montmartre – an establishment that attracted avant-garde writers and painters” – “Four Gats is a colloquial Catalan expression meaning “only few people”. ‘It also stood for the four founders of the establishment: Pere Romeu, Santiago Rusinol, Ramon Casas and Miquel Utrillo.”1
1.Ocana Maria Teresa, Picasso and Els 4 Gats. Boston, Bulfinch Press. 1996, 322p.

04/13/2018

Picasso met Fernande Olivier at the Bateau Lavoir in Paris and their relationship lasts from 1904 to 1909. “La Belle Fernande” becomes the artist’s muse. The portraits he painted of her became their love story. This is the beginning of Picasso’s Rose Period, more colored and happier than the Blue Period.

04/04/2018

W041 Vampyr II (Vampire II)1895-1902
Lithograph with woodcut printed in color on fine white oriental paper
Munch first executed this theme in oil and exhibited it in 1893 with the title Love and Pain. At first glance, the woman appears to be comforting the man resting his head on her breast. In his 1893 review of the picture, however, Stanislaw Przybyszewski described a “broken man with a vampire biting his neck,”1 thereby coining the current (and more famous) title.
1Arne Eggum, Edvard Munch: The Frieze of Life from Painting to Graphic Art, J.M. Stenersens Forlag AS, Oslo, p. 178.

03/29/2018

B0001 Le Repas frugal

1904 (September, Paris)
Etching and scraper printed on Van Gelder Zonen wove paper
From the Suite des Saltimbanques
Image: 18 1/8 x 14 13/16 inches
Sheet: 21 1/8 x 15 ¾ inches


This image is Picasso’s first major attempt in printmaking, etched onto a used zinc plate when he was only twenty-two years old. The couple’s long limbs and fingers are reminiscent of the style of El Greco, one of Picasso’s early influences. Huddled together yet facing in opposite directions, their alienation from one another and from society is emblematic of works from Picasso’s “Blue Period.”

12/31/2013

The Picasso print Le Danse Barbare (Bloch 15) depicts a fictional scene between Salome and King Herod. The theme and style of this print foreshadow Picasso's shift to Primitivist themes. Learn more about this print at http://ow.ly/rJUcu

View the Picasso Print Le Danse Barbare (Devant Salomé et Hérode) from the Suite des Saltimbanques, available from the John Szoke art gallery.

12/29/2013

Pablo Picasso's Le Collier (Bloch 58) is an elegant depiction of the Three Graces; the goddesses of charm, beauty and creativity. Contact the John Szoke art gallery for pricing and availability of this beautiful signed Picasso print. http://ow.ly/rJTMA

12/27/2013

The unique Picasso print Sculpteurs, Modeles et Sculpture (Bloch 149) depicts three men in classical poses discussing a modern, geometric sculpture. The print suggests a continuum between ancient and modern art. Visit our website for more information about this thought-provoking print. http://ow.ly/rJTr3

12/25/2013

The Picasso print Feuille d’Études. Profils de Marie-Thérèse et Tête de Rembrandt au Béret (Bloch 207) has an interesting story behind it. Picasso thought that he had ruined the plate in the print-making process, so he began to scribble on it. He thought that the scribble resembled Rembrandt, a painter whom he respected, so he added a feathered beret to make the etching mirror Rembrandt's self-portrait. Learn more at http://ow.ly/rJSPd