Greetings, my name is John Moreland and I want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read my message. I appreciate any professional expertise you can share regarding the authenticity of this artwork. I understand a fee for your services may apply if you decide to proceed. Please advise. I want to preface my discussion by stating, I am not an expert, just an amature collector. It is my understanding the piece came from an estate years ago. It was professionally framed by Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara CA. That gallery has since closed. The attached images (see link above) show what I believe to be an original Pablo Picasso lithograph, pencil signed and numbered (9/30), printed on brown rag paper (circa 1949). The print measures 11 1/4"x 15". I believe this lithograph to be a separate, distinct single print, from a limited run, derived from the original illustrations of Picasso's collaborative book Corps perdu and not just a page removed from the book (see chapter title, page 49, Corps perdu, circa 1949-50, MoMA website).1 Full disclosure, I used the internet to research the print, which can be helpful, but misleading at times. That said, several internet sources do state Picasso did indeed create small series of original litographs, separate and apart from the engravings, aquatints, drypoint, and etching contained his collaborative book Corps perdu. As was stated, the litographs provided the original graphic work for the book and were then made to illustrate book's poems. I believe this to be an older section of Arches brown rag paper. As I have learned, Picasso did use an Arches brown rag paper for some of his lithographs during 1940's and 1950's. The print has two deckled edges without a watermark that can be seen. As I understand, the lack of a watermark is somewhat common for Arches papers which were a times sold in pads, blocks or were cut from a larger roll. Unfortunately a tactile examination of the paper and the ink is unavailable given it is framed and I am not prepared, at this time, to remove it. Examination and photographic techniques I used were naked eye visual inspection, loupe and microscope magnification, raking light, sunlight, ultraviolet light and near infrared light. I have access to a radiograph if needed. To the naked eye, the paper looks somewhat wrinkled but does not have an abraded or scuffed appearance. There are no rips, tears or repairs visible, with the exception of a small nick near the lower right hand corner. (see photos). There are no plate markings and it does not look like the paper was totally adhered to the backing when it was framed, only the four corners. Under magnification, the paper has a balanced smooth texture, the fibers have a consistent color throughout and do not appear dry or brittle. The ink has a slightly raised appearance and not flat. The ink has a random dot pattern with a grainy texture and varied linework. There is no indication of a uniform, offset dot pattern (see photos). Viewing the signature and print under magnification, pencil pressure and graphite can clearly be seen laid down . There is no visual sign of an erasure or retouching. The signature looks consistent with Picasso's documented 1949-50 signature regarding fluidity, slant, letter spacing and underlining (see Picasso Raisonne and School of Picasso website). I examined the print using a 50 watt, 365nm UV light light source, with a UV 365nm pass filter(see photos). There are no bright white or yellowish-white foxing halos, no orange mildew fluorescence and no water damage discoloration. There is no yellow or purple fluorescing due to past fungi or bacteria damage nor was there any fluorescing due to added optical brighteners. There are no dark spots and paper holds a consistent color throughout. There is no evidence of any paper repairs. Additionally I examined the paper under near Infrared light using a 720 nm, near IR pass through camera filter, with the ISO set at 100 and slow shutter speed (see photos). The graphite in the signature and edition number were really greatly enhanced. There is no overwriting or other non-intersecting writing media seen other than the ink. There is no evidence of a watermark or any paper repairs. There are no dark spots with the paper holding a consistent color throughout. The wrinkling becomes more visible under IR examination. To date, I have been unable to obtain access any Picasso online catalogue raisonnes to find a comparison piece. The only similar images I could find were pages taken from the Corps perdu which did not contain any lithographs but only engravings, aquatints, a drypoint and an etching. Thank you for your help with this inquiry. I look forward to hearing from you. Best Regards, John Moreland [email protected] (765) 349-2041

11 1/4"x 15"