In 1936 Ambroise Vollard commissioned illustrations by Picasso for the comte de Buffon’s eighteenth-century encyclopedia, Histoire naturelle. The book, with Picasso’s thirty-one prints of animals, was published in 1942. Picasso created this unique drawing of Le Coq of ancient France within the frontmatter of Histoire naturelle and dedicated the volume to his friend, the theatre director Jean-Louis Barrault. The delightful images of the animal kingdom, rendered with exquisite technique, must have surely brought joy to those who viewed it during the dark days of the war. Printed in a relatively small edition of 226, several went to friends with unique drawings such as this one.
