PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973): “Sueño y Mentira de Franco” (Planche I-II). Etching and aquatint, 1937, on Montval paper, both stamp signed (as is customary) and numbered in pencil 163/850.

Double folded sheet (Montval) with poem in Spanish and French, as well as a loose sheet with text in English included.
Sheet dimensions 31.5x42 cm, respectively 31.5x42.2 cm.
Blade dimensions 38.5x56.8 cm, respectively 38.5x57cm.
with frame 53x62 cm

Literature:
Bloch 297—298.
Baer 615-616.
Cramer Books 28.

“Franco's Dream and Lie” are two remarkable etchings in which Picasso, in 18 frames, depicts, like a series, the horrors of fascism and specifically General Francisco Franco. The etchings are among the earliest examples of political works by Picasso, in which, with the aid of satire, he ridicules Franco and his claim to defend conservative Spanish values and culture, when in fact, according to Picasso, he destroyed Spain and its culture. The work is interesting also because it predates Picasso's most famous painting, “Guernica” from the same year, and in some frames there are direct preliminary studies to this masterpiece.