347 Suite

The “347 Suite” is Pablo Picasso’s largest print series, named for the number of works therein. When released in late 1968, the “347 Suite” quickly made headlines, with reporters baffled by the rapid production of the series. At 86 years old, Picasso had created 347 etchings and aquatints in just seven months. For comparison, Rembrandt van Rijn produced around 300 etchings over the course of his entire career. The suite also drew controversy for its explicit erotic content—20 of the prints, in particular, sparked a debate about whether they should ever be shown publicly. Nevertheless, the “347 Series” toured internationally that same year, displayed at Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.