Pablo Picasso: Negotiation between the Athenians and the Spartan Envoys

Pablo Picasso: Negotiation between the Athenians and the Spartan Envoys (Accord entre les guerriers de Sparte d'Athenes) 1934

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/pablo-picasso-agreement-between-the-athenians-and-the-spartans-peace-1

This etching (and its five companions) came about due to the initiative of an association of American bibliophiles, the Limited Editions Club, in New York. The association asked Picasso to illustrate Aristophanes’ famous comedy, Lysistrata, a new translation of which had just been completed by Gilbert Seldes. Picasso had known Seldes since the 1920’s. The choice of Picasso as illustrator was certainly influenced by the publication of Ovid’s Métamorphoses in 1931. Indeed, in both Lysistrata and Métamorphoses the same classical style is found, characterized by purity of line and balance of composition.