Le Taureau is a series of lithographs by Pablo Picasso made with the assistance of Fernand Mourlot from December 1945 to January 1946.[1] In his memoir Mourlot recalled that "in order to achieve his pure and linear rendering of the bull, he had to pass through all of the intermediary stages".[1]
The series depicts a bull as it is progressively refined through 11 images to the simplest rendering of form.[1]
Picasso made the initial drawing of the bull on 15 December 1945.[1] The initial drawing of the bull is the rarest lithograph of the series as only 2 or 3 were produced. The third rendering of the bull was described by Fernand Mourlot as a terrible creature, with terrifying horns and eyes. Still unsatisfied, Picasso progressively simplified the drawing until it became increasingly geometric.[1] The simplicity of the final image has been compared to a hieroglyph.[2] Despite the simplicity of the final image the Portland Art Museum describes it as "nonetheless eloquently captur[ing] the power and bulk of the bovine".[3]
The eleventh and final image was created on January 17. Mourlot believed this was the bull in its "essential form", having been "rendered in a few perfectly placed lines...with his pinhead and ridiculous horns like antennae". Mourlot recalled that his workers "regretted seeing such a magnificent bull transformed bit by bit into a sort of insect". Mourlot's assistant Jean Célestin said that with the final image "Picasso ended up where normally he should have started".[1] Picasso's technique of progressive refinement inspired Andre Minaux in his lithography.[4]
The series was made in an edition of 50; with an additional 18 artists proofs.[5]
Le Taureau is number 389 in Georges Bloch's Catalogue of the Printed Graphic Work of Picasso.[6] [7]