Signed; Hubertus Hierl - Signed; Ein Nachmittag mit Picasso (with 3 Originalprints) - 2023

PREFERRED EDITION (Expl. No. 8) – Limited edition (250 copies) - signed
With 3 signed original photographs (19 x 24 cm - 26 x 19 cm - 25 x 19 cm) limited to 250 copies

A coincidence that becomes a stroke of luck. The young photographer Hubertus Hierl is on the Côte d’Azur to capture the colorful bustle of the young crowd. Posters announce a bullfight in Fréjus for Sunday. Hubertus Hierl wants to be there as a photographer.
While walking around the arena, Hubertus Hierl suddenly notices Pablo Picasso among the spectators. With a sign, he signals Picasso his wish to photograph him. Picasso is in a good mood and gives his consent.
Well, the young photographer is forgotten by Picasso almost immediately, who concentrates entirely on the happenings in the arena. It wasn’t just a few photographs! The scene was too dramatic. Hierl’s images emphasize Picasso’s total involvement in what was happening in the arena; they show anticipation, tension, fear on his face.
In one of the images we see Picasso amidst the hustle and bustle of the bullfighting arena in a moment of stillness and inwardness: for a moment, Picasso seems no longer to follow the events in the arena, but to be lost in himself, with wide open, silent, questioning eyes and an piercing gaze. The art historian Carl Georg Heise attributed this photo to the photographer: ‘You have captured something strange: the age at which such a great life becomes its own legend—with force, tacit knowledge, and a farewell sorrow.’
On that afternoon, the last detailed public documentation of Picasso was created, and at the same time a psychological portrait of the artist. The pictures show Picasso in an environment that, throughout his life, belonged to his major themes: bullfighting.
Even after the bullfight, Hubertus Hierl continues to accompany Picasso with his camera as he leaves the arena and until his departure with his entourage.