Pablo Picasso

The Embrace III (L'Étreinte. III) from the Vollard Suite (Suite Vollard)

1933, published 1939

Drypoint

Not on view

Sexuality is a recurring motif in Picasso's art, depicted in various ways. In the 1930s he began making scenes of sexual aggression, to which scholars have since assigned titles ranging from the benign Embrace to Struggle, Battle of Love and Rape. At the time Picasso was influenced by Surrealism, which encouraged the exploration of unconscious thoughts and desires. Also, he introduced the Minotaur, half-man and half-bull, which the bodies of the male figures here resemble.

Gallery label from

Picasso: Variations and Themes, March 28–September 30, 2010.

Medium Drypoint
Dimensions plate: 11 5/8 x 14 3/8" (29.6 x 36.5 cm); sheet: 13 3/8 x 17 3/4" (34 x 45.1 cm)
Publisher Vollard, Paris
Printer Lacourière, Paris
Edition 260
Credit Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Object number 218.1949
Department Drawings and Prints

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Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Spanish, 1881–1973 1251 works online

With these words, Picasso shed light on two central principles of his artistic production over nearly 80 years: his openness to a diverse range of styles, subject matters, and mediums, and his resistance to the notion that change in art necessarily corresponds to improvement or progress.

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