The lithograph Bust of a Woman in a Blue Hat was printed in 1980, seven years after the artist died. What the number 377/500 and Marina Picasso's signature actually mean.
Bust of a Woman in a Blue Hat is a lithograph on Arches paper, 55.5 × 76 cm, impression 377 of 500. It was printed in 1980. Picasso died in 1973, and that is the first thing to know about the sheet.
After the artist's death part of the estate passed to his granddaughter Marina Picasso. Between 1979 and 1982, at her decision, limited editions were printed from a number of works. On the international market they are known as the Picasso Estate Collection. Each sheet is numbered and signed in pencil by Marina Picasso, carries a blind embossed estate stamp, and bears a printed note on the reverse confirming approval by the heirs.
Hence the distinction worth keeping in mind. The signature on the sheet belongs to the heir, not to the author. Picasso took no part in preparing this edition and did not sign it. Lifetime prints, which the artist pulled and signed himself, belong to a different category and are valued differently.
The value of estate editions lies elsewhere. The provenance is transparent and documented down to a specific collection. The edition is closed: 500 impressions, each with its own number. The printing was done on Arches, a cotton paper with no wood pulp, which does not yellow and holds a dense black, so a sheet forty years old still looks new.
What to look at when buying one. The margins: trimmed to fit a frame, they reduce the value more than small stains do. The pencil signature and number: both must be in pencil, not printed. The blind stamp: it shows when the sheet is held at an angle to the light. And the note on the reverse, which is easiest to check before a purchase rather than after.
The sheet is in the foundation's gallery, 340,000 ₽.
