Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) La Chèvre à la caisse d’emballage from Diurnes. Découpages et photographies Paris: Berggruen, 1962 A rare and highly desirable hand-enhanced plate from Pablo Picasso’s celebrated collaborative volume Diurnes, created together with photographer André Villers and poet Jacques Prévert. This composition, titled La Chèvre à la caisse d’emballage, is among the most iconic images of the series, combining photography, collage-thinking, and Picasso’s unmistakable late graphic language. The work presents a striking goat silhouette constructed against the backdrop of a wooden packing crate, transformed by Picasso into a surreal and poetic figure through bold black forms and incisive linear interventions. Particularly important in the present example is the presence of original hand additions by Picasso in colored wax crayon, visible in blue, yellow, and red, together with a handwritten signature in the lower margin. These manual interventions elevate the sheet beyond the standard printed edition, making it an individually personalized and far rarer variant. Diurnes occupies a special place in Picasso’s printed oeuvre. Rather than traditional illustration, the project merged Villers’ photography with Picasso’s cut-paper inventions and spontaneous graphic additions, creating thirty dreamlike metamorphic images. The series is considered one of the most inventive artist-book collaborations of the 20th century. Bibliography / References Cramer 115 Bloch, Livres Illustrés 112 Goeppert-Cramer / Kat. Basel 115 Kibbe 1466 Technical Details Published by Berggruen, Paris, 1962 Approx. sheet size: 40 × 30 cm From the original edition of Diurnes Printed on fine Arches paper Original printed plate with hand signature and hand-coloring in wax crayon Importance Examples with genuine hand additions by Picasso from Diurnes are markedly scarcer than the standard unsigned plates and are sought after for combining photography, printmaking, and direct autograph intervention by the artist. Condition Reported in good overall condition. Collector’s Note A museum-level example of one of Picasso’s most imaginative late graphic works—where an ordinary crate becomes a mythical animal through a few masterful gestures.