Collotype on velin du Marais paper. Paper size: 14.5 x 11.125 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonne reference: Goeppert, Sebastian, et al. Pablo Picasso, the Illustrated Books: Catalogue Raisonne. Patrick Cramer, 1983, illustration 84. Johnson, Robert Flynn, et al. Artists Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000: The Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Thames & Hudson, 2002, illustration 77. Notes: From the album, 40 dessins de Picasso en marge du Buffon, 1957. Published by Berggruen et Cie, Paris; printed by l'atelier de Georges Duval, January 1957. Excerpted from the album (translated from French), Proposed by Henri Jonquieres, this album was made under his direction. The compositions, unpublished to date, were drawn on an example of the Buffon, published by Martin Fabiani, publisher in Paris, who has obligedly authorized the edition of the text and engraving planches. The original album belongs to Dora Maar. The printing of the plates was made in l'atelier de Duval, in Paris, and completed in January 1957, and that of the typography by l'imprimerie Priester Freres. MMCCXXVI examples were shot, namely: CCXXVI examples on velin a la forme d'Arches, including an engraving a la gouge originale de Picasso, signed by him and printed on la presse a bras de Robert Blanchet, numbered from I to CCXXVI, and MM examples on velin du Marais, numbered from CCXXVII to MMCCXXVI. In addition, non-commercial examples, numbered in Roman numerals, are reserved for the various collaborators. PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War. Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved universal renown and immense fortune for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments, and became one of the best-known figures in 20th-century art. In May 2015, Pablo Picasso's painting, Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O), sold for $179.4 million USD at Christie's New York, setting a world record for the artist.