Reproductions of more than a dozen of Picasso’s sketchbooks, spanning 50 years of experimentation and innovation

The publication of this engaging collection of Picasso’s sketchbooks marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). Bringing together 14 sketchbooks dating between 1900 and 1959, this cache of archival material encompasses nearly every period of Picasso’s career and connects his most well-known bodies of work. The 2023 exhibition 14 Sketchbooks built upon the 1986 Pace Gallery exhibition Je Suis le Cahier: The Sketchbooks of Picasso, which was the first dedicated showing of his sketchbooks.
This sketchbook-like volume features reproductions from the 14 books that trace the evolution of Picasso’s observations and ideas across his distinctive stylistic periods. All sketchbooks are contextualized by curatorial advisors and Picasso experts Marilyn McCully and Michael Raeburn. Blank pages at the back of the publication invite the reader to contribute their own sketches and ideas.

Text by: Marilyn McCully, Géraldine Mercier, Michael Raeburn