![Pablo Picasso - Bacchanale au Taureau noir [1959]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7688/26323739033_87a1936149_b.jpg)
Picasso returned to the south of France after World War II which primarily was the initial point of his very extensive ceramic oeuvre. Apart from this, a significant portion of his graphic works also originated from this period. In the late 1950s he was especially dedicated to the linoleum cut technique, which he often made use of in an unconventional manner. The present work displays a very classical motif in Picasso's work: a cheerful mythological scene with a bull and centaurs making music. Although the linoleum cut can be associated with the artist's mature phase, the composition and colours are so vivid and lively that one can assume that Picasso's youthful buoyancy and vitality did not diminish later in his career.
[Lempertz Auction House, Cologne - Colour linoleum cut on firm wove laid paper, image 52.7 x 64 cm]