Picasso’s meninas, from the portfolio Hommage à Pablo Picasso

This etching was the result of an invitation to contribute to the 'Hommage à Pablo Picasso' 1973 portfolio, commissioned by Propylean Press, Berlin, in honour of Picasso's 90th birthday. About the commission Richard Hamilton said: ‘I went for the homage to Picasso via Velázquez ... I couldn't see how you could pay homage to Picasso until I got this idea of using his handmaidens, his ladies in waiting.’1

Reworking Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece, 'Las meninas' 1656 (Museo del Prado, Madrid), Hamilton cleverly incorporated major styles of Picasso’s oeuvre into the iconic composition: Infanta Margarita has been redrawn in the style of analytical cubism, there’s a neo-classical lady in waiting, and the page is now a ‘rose period’ harlequin. Velázquez’s self-portrait has been replaced with an image of Picasso, and Hamilton has cheekily included portraits of himself and his wife in the mirror.

The execution of the etching is also noteworthy. Hamilton made three studies which he used to create the final plate. Working with Picasso’s master printers, Pierro and Aldo Crommelynck, Hamilton utilised a wide range of techniques in this accomplished print: hard, soft-ground and stipple etching, roulette, open-bite and lift-ground aquatint, drypoint and burnishing.

1. Richard Hamilton in conversation with Manuela Mena, Museo del Prado, Madrid 2010, museodelprado.es/en/whats-on/exhibition/richard-hamilton-picassos-meninas/7a501510-a120-400c-8b3b-2bfcf114f763, accessed 29 Nov 2021