Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Lavis d'aquarelle

Pablo Picasso - Original Gouache Stencil 1929

Printed by Daniel Jacomet - Edition of 1500

Perfect condition

Sheet 21 x 27 cm

Stencil 15 x 17.5 cm

In 1929, the stencil (pochoir) is an extremely meticulous artisanal process, mainly used for fashion and luxury Art Deco publishing.

The work relies on the manual coloring of a sheet on which the outlines have been pre-printed. Artisans cut with scalpels sheets of brass, zinc or celluloid — one plate for each shade, sometimes requiring up to 80 stencils for a single image. Using round brushes, sponges or cotton, colorists then apply gouache.

This method offers a unique result: areas of pure color, a matte texture with perceptible relief, and gradients impossible to reproduce with mechanical printing. Long and costly, the technique gradually faded away at the beginning of the 1930s with the development of industrial printing processes.