Shakespeare
Louis Aragon – Pablo Picasso
Paris, Éditions Cercle d’Art, 1965
Description
Shakespeare is a major illustrated book conceived by Louis Aragon and Pablo Picasso, centered on Picasso’s portrait of William Shakespeare. The volume was published by Cercle d’Art in a large-format luxury edition and includes an original transfer lithograph by Picasso, signed and dated in pencil.
Physical Details
Format: 48.5 × 33.5 cm
Paper: Vélin d’Arches
Typography & Binding: Imprimerie Union, Paris
Printer of illustrations: Atelier Mourlot (lithography)
Text printing: Imprimerie Moderne du Lion (Fernand Chenot)
Binding: Original publisher’s red cloth binding with handwritten-style titling on the upper cover
Publisher: Cercle d’Art, Paris
Illustration
One original transfer lithograph
Subject: Portrait de Shakespeare
Image size: approx. 22.2 × 33.5 cm
Technique: Original transfer lithograph (Mourlot)
Signed “Picasso” in pencil
Dated 28.2.65 in pencil
Edition
150 copies on Vélin d’Arches with the original signed lithograph, numbered 1–150
25 hors commerce (HC) copies for the author, artist, and collaborators
A separate trade edition without the lithograph exists (French and English), which is distinct and not part of the illustrated luxury issue
Catalogue Raisonné References (nr. de cârlig)
Cramer: no. 131
Mourlot: no. 405
Bloch: no. 1197
Reuße: no. 858
Orozco: listed and discussed in Picasso: 70 Years of Book Illustration
Scholarly Notes
Picasso traditionally did not work on Sundays; the drawing dated 28 February 1965 is explicitly documented as an exception.
The portrait relates to a broader series of Shakespeare drawings made in April 1964, in anticipation of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth.
The initiative for the project is documented through correspondence involving Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, linking Picasso to Aragon’s concept for the book.
Despite early bibliographic ambiguity, authoritative catalogues confirm that the 150 numbered luxury copies were issued with the signed transfer lithograph.
Classification
Type: Illustrated book with original lithograph
Status: Fully documented in all major Picasso catalogues raisonnés
Not a reproduction
Not a later variant
Not a trade edition
