Pablo Picasso – La Chute d’Icare
Albert Skira, Geneva, 1972
Enormous Portfolio 72 x 50 cm in Mint condition as new – aprox 5kg
I’ve added a 2 liter soda bottle for comparison
A video of the portfolio can be seen here:

Deluxe illustrated portfolio for UNESCO, Paris
This work is the celebrated illustrated album La Chute d’Icare, published in 1972 by Albert Skira, Geneva, based on Pablo Picasso’s monumental mural created for the UNESCO Palace in Paris (1957–1958). The portfolio documents Picasso’s preparatory studies and compositional development for The Fall of Icarus, one of his most important late public commissions.
Edition & Justification
Total print run: 500 numbered copies
This copy: No. 277
Copies I–125: With an original etching (eau-forte), signed and numbered by Picasso
Copies H.C. I–XXV: Hors commerce, reserved for the artist and publisher
Copies 126–500: Without etching
Exemplaire n° 277 belongs to the regular numbered edition (126–500) and does NOT include the engraved plate, exactly as stated in the colophon.
Contents of the Portfolio
This portfolio contains:
7 original color lithographic prints, printed after Picasso’s preparatory studies for La Chute d’Icare
80 additional lithographic color prints reproducing preparatory drawings and studies related to the mural
Title page and full justification
All sheets printed on high-quality paper and housed in the original publisher’s linen portfolio
All printed images are correctly described as lithographic prints, not engravings and not original etchings.
Technical & Publishing Details
Author (text): Jean Leymarie
Publisher: Albert Skira, Geneva
Date: 1972
Typography, text & binding: Imprimerie Roto-Sadag S.A., Geneva
Printing of illustrations:
Etching (for copies I–125 only): A. & P. Crommelynck, Paris
Lithographic color prints: Imprimerie Atar S.A., Geneva
Printed in: Switzerland
Portfolio size: approx. 70× 49.5 cm
Historical Context
In 1957, UNESCO selected eleven artists to decorate its new Paris headquarters. Picasso was commissioned to create a monumental mural for the delegates’ building, completed in 1958. The final mural consists of forty wooden panels painted in acrylic, covering nearly 100 square meters, depicting standing and reclining figures animated by a falling figure—Icarus—against an imposing blue field.
The composition, initially titled The Forces of Life and the Spirit Triumphing over Evil, was later renamed The Fall of Icarus. The present portfolio was published in 1972 as the definitive illustrated documentation of this major public work.
Catalogue References
Miguel Orozco, Picasso: 70 Years of Book Illustration, no. 255, pp. 388–389
Cramer, catalogue raisonné of illustrated books: no. 155
Bloch, catalogue raisonné: no. 2016
Condition & Completeness
Complete portfolio as issued for numbers 126–500
Original linen portfolio with ties
Clean, well-preserved sheets
Correctly issued without the signed etching, consistent with copy no. 277