Le Bouquet (Bouquet de la Paix)

A colour lithograph by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), signed in pencil by the artist and signed and dated in the plate “Picasso 21.4.58”. The image, known as Le Bouquet or Bouquet de la Paix, shows two hands, drawn in a single continuous black line, clasping a posy of bright flowers in red, yellow, orange and blue. Picasso drew the bouquet in April 1958, and the image became one of his best-known symbols of peace, closely linked to the peace movement of the post-war years, for which he also created the famous dove. The simplicity of the gesture, two hands offering flowers, carries the message with an economy and warmth that few artists could match. The sheet combines the fluency of Picasso’s line with the joyful, almost childlike colour of his late years. It is presented in a black wood frame with a dark mount; framed dimensions 88 × 73 cm.