Image: Image reproduction rights managed by Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio; institutional source link provided
View source →Pablo Picasso, 1953
Medium
sugarlift aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet: 91 x 63.6 cm (35 13/16 x 25 1/16 in.); Platemark: 83.2 x 47.3 cm (32 3/4 x 18 5/8 in.)
Style
Late Picasso
Decade
1950s
The official Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio record identifies The Egyptian as a Pablo Picasso artwork, dated 1953, in sugarlift aquatint. During his 70-year career Pablo Picasso produced about 2,500 prints—a commitment to printmaking unmatched by any other 20th-century master. Incredibly inventive in each medium with which he worked, he learned sugarlift aquatint from the greatest intaglio pinter of the time, Rober Lacourière. A mixture of sugar syrup and ink is used to draw on a copper plate. When dry, the entire plate is covered with a varnish that is impervious to acid and put in warm water. As the sugar melts, it lifts the varnish off, exposing the copper plate where the artist has drawn. These areas are then aquatinted; fine particles of acid-resistant resin are deposited on the plate and heated so they adhere to the surface. Next, the plate is immersed in acid, which bites into the plate in tiny pools around each particle. When the plate is printed, the resulting image resembles a freely executed, grainy wash drawing with rich blacks and subtle gray tones. Picasso's prints are often autobiographical, forming an intimate visual diary of his thoughts and experiences. <em>The Egyptian</em> is a portrait of Françoise Gilot who appeared in his work repeatedly after the artist met her in 1943. In this image he abstracted the figure developing such ideas as describing the subject from multiple points of view simultaneously. This is a particularly beautiful impression, a proof made before the edition of 50 was printed.
The Egyptian is grouped here under Late Period for gallery navigation based on the date published by Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. This period label is interpretive context, not a replacement for the cited primary object record. The holding collection is documented by the cited institutional source.
2026 Estimated Value
Public collection / market value not asserted
* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.
Last Known Sale
No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection
Continue Exploring
Chosen for shared style, era, medium, subject, or date.
Paloma and Claude (cover design for Picasso's Lithographs II)
1950 · same style · same era
The Picador
1952 · same style · same era
Two Nude Women (A series of progressive proofs)
1945–46 · same style · same era
Two Nude Women
1946 · same style · same era
Still Life Under a Lamp
Mougins, March 19, 1962 · same style · same era
Twenty Poems of Gongora: The Bust of a Woman, Hand to Her Face
1947 · same style · same era
If you love this late period masterpiece, explore these curated books and resources on Amazon.
Picasso: A Biography by John Richardson
Comprehensive biography exploring Picasso's life and artistic evolution
Picasso Museum Exhibition Catalogs
Official exhibition catalogs from major Picasso retrospectives
Picasso: A Life Documentary
Comprehensive documentary chronicling Picasso's entire artistic journey
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