The luck of the spears (Suerte de varas) - Pablo Picasso - "La Tauromaquia”

Pablo Picasso "La Tauromaquia"
May 1957 dimension: 20 x 30 cm

Etching aquatint with sugar, with hand-etching on copper beveled
printed on paper "Velin pour fil de Guarro" (with dual watermark)
single state
origin: • private art collection
Illustration n. X Text: José Delgado (alias Pepe Illo), La Tauromaquia or Arte de torear, Gustavo Gili -
Ediciones La Cometa, Barcelona 1959

The engraving depicts the beginning of the bloody phase of bullfighting. The picadors on horseback (in turn) sfiancano the bull
with a spear, while the bullfighters will guide the direction of charge with the hood. Meanwhile, the animal tries to
overthrow the horse. In hitting the bull, the picador uses the vara de picar, a sort of lance consists of a
wooden handle (about 180 cm long) and a steel tip forged pyramid with three sides, provided the
base of a metal disk which has the function of preventing the penetration of the handle in the animal's body.
The engraving depicts a scene similar to printing n. 12 of the same series which, however, differs for a
greatest number of spectators depicted. Picasso has been able to make the elegance and lightness of movements,
although the scene is bloody. The iconographic reference is traceable in a famous print of
Bullfighting of Goya (1816): Strict Rendon stabs a bull with his pike.

More information in the annex