A Year of Picasso, Paintings: 1969

From the front flap of this 221 page book: "The nearly two hundred paintings created by Picasso during a single year - 1969 - would do no credit to an artist as the work of a lifetime. Exhibited at the Palace of the Popes in Avignon in 1970, they were a highlight of the year on the international art scene. Reproduced in this handsome volume, they are dramatic evidence of Picasso's inexhaustible technical prowess and exuberant creative powers. All the paintings are shown in full color - each colorplate carefully supervised by Picasso himself to ensure the utmost fidelity to the original - and are accompanied by a group of related drawings in duotone. The subjects are light-hearted, sometimes erotic improvisations, inventions, and variations that reflect the artist's joie de vivre and ebullient spirits. Taking a cue from the paintings, Rafael Alberti, one of the leading figures in the modern renaissance of Spanish letters, weaves a joyous fantasy of his own. Speaking as and for the characters in the paintings, he pays enchantingly funny yet deeply touching homage to his old friend."