(Young Man with a Crown of Leaves)

January 1962, Mougins

Medium: Original linocut printed in four colours (maroon on beige, brown, dark brown and black), printed from a single block on Arches watermarked paper; signed in pencil by the artist

Edition: 32/50 (with approximately 25 artist’s proofs)

Publisher: Galerie Louis Leiris, Paris, 1961

Printer: Arnéra, Vallauris, France

Size:

– Image: 34.6 × 26.8 cm (13⅝ × 10⁹⁄₁₆ in)

– Sheet: 57.2 × 43.8 cm (22½ × 17¼ in)

– Framed: 79 × 89 cm

References: Bloch 1087; Baer 1307; Wofsy L:128; Orozco 399

Public Collections: Museu Picasso, Barcelona (donated by Sabartés)

Condition: A very good, clean impression with vibrant colours, in excellent condition

This bold portrait depicts a youthful male figure presented frontally, his face occupying the centre of the composition. The features are symmetrically arranged yet subtly disrupted, a characteristic tension in Picasso’s modernist language. Wide, open eyes dominate the face, conveying alertness and intensity, while the simplified nose and stylised lips reduce the visage to essential geometric forms. The palette is restrained yet expressive, with strong contrasts that give the image immediacy and presence.

The crown of leaves resting gently upon the young man’s head evokes classical antiquity and themes of renewal, vitality, and initiation. Unlike the Dionysian vine leaves associated with excess and maturity, these leaves suggest youth, potential, and becoming. The figure appears poised at a threshold — not yet fully formed, yet charged with energy and promise.

Picasso avoids literal portraiture, instead creating an archetypal image that operates psychologically rather than descriptively. The work speaks to the moment of transition between innocence and experience, a recurring concern in Picasso’s late reflections on identity and the passage of time.

This work belongs to Picasso’s late-period transformation of the linocut medium. Rejecting traditional methods, he developed a painterly approach that allowed colour, line, and form to evolve organically through a single carved block. Across his entire career, Picasso created only around 150 linocuts, making this body of work a comparatively rare and highly concentrated chapter within his vast output.

These linocuts are now recognised as some of the most innovative graphic works of the 20th century, demonstrating Picasso’s continued willingness to experiment and redefine medium even in his later years.

By early 1962, Picasso was living and working in Mougins, entering one of the most confident and prolific phases of his career. The previous year he had married Jacqueline Roque, who would remain his companion and principal muse until his death in 1973. This period is marked by an intense engagement with themes of youth, age, masculinity, mythology, and artistic legacy.

Rather than looking backward, Picasso’s work from this time displays remarkable vitality and directness. His late portraits are playful yet profound, asserting creative freedom and a refusal to conform to expectations of decline.

Jeune Homme Couronné de Feuillage was conceived as the companion piece to Homme barbu couronné de feuilles de vigne, which presents a mature, bearded figure crowned with Dionysian vine leaves. Together, the two linocuts form a powerful dialogue between youth and maturity, innocence and experience, becoming and being.

Stylistically, the contrast is equally striking. While the bearded figure is more linear and monumental, Jeune Homme Couronné de Feuillage adopts a distinctly Cubist structure, demonstrating Picasso’s continued engagement with the formal language he helped invent over half a century earlier.

Picasso employed his innovative reduction linocut technique, carving successive colours from a single block. Each stage permanently altered the block, requiring precision and decisiveness. This method results in a cohesive image where colour and form are inseparable, and where the physical act of carving remains visible in the finished work. Printed by Arnéra in Vallauris, the impressions retain clarity, depth, and strong tonal balance.

The inclusion of this work in the collection of the Museu Picasso, Barcelona — donated by Jaime Sabartés, Picasso’s close friend and secretary — underscores its art-historical significance. The association situates the work firmly within Picasso’s inner circle and institutional narrative.

Picasso stands as one of the defining figures of modern art, continually reshaping visual language across painting, sculpture, and printmaking. His late works, far from being retrospective, reveal an artist still challenging form, medium, and identity, reaffirming his central place in 20th-century art history.

This linocut is especially appealing to collectors seeking a refined yet powerful example of Picasso’s late work. Its clarity of form, mythological resonance, and conceptual pairing with Homme barbu couronné de feuilles de vigne make it particularly compelling as part of a considered modern-master collection.

Picasso’s linocuts from 1961–62 are increasingly recognised as major works rather than peripheral editions. With a small edition size, strong institutional presence, and consistent international demand, Jeune Homme Couronné de Feuillagerepresents a museum-quality acquisition with enduring cultural and market significance.