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Many know Picasso as the co-founder of Cubism, or they know of his Blue Period, Rose Period or possibly his most famous piece of work, “Guernica.”

But Picasso was also a skilled and innovative printmaker and a collection of 140 of his prints is being displayed May 22 through June 27 at the Queensborough Community College Art Gallery.

“He did everything,” said Faustino Quintanilla, executive director of the gallery, of Picasso. “Everything he touched, he was creating gold.”

The collection comes from Myra and Sandy Kirschenbaum and comprises every aspect of Picasso as a printmaker, according to Emmanuel Benador, curator of the collection.

For Quintanilla, the opportunity to have these pieces of art at the gallery is an exciting one. He said each year the college tries to bring different types of media to display at the college.

“I think it’s important for academic purposes as well as the community to see how art is created,” he said. “It had been a while since we had classical printmaking.”

Many of the prints in this collection have not been shown to the public before, Quintanilla said. Some of the displays show multiple prints of the work in different stages of completion, giving the viewer access to Picasso’s mind and the way he worked.

“You can see how his mind changed as he was growing, as he was creating,” said Quintanilla.

Stated Benador, “The exhibition displays Picasso’s prints from state to state in the order of their creation, and organizes them chronologically to cover every period in the artist’s life. Through the succession of states, we can see the mind of the artist; it is like reading an open book.”
Some of the original plates are also included in the collection.

Classical printmaking is the art of transferring an inked image from one surface, typically a plate or block, to another. Picasso employed many different techniques in doing this, including Intaglio, engraving, drypoint, etching, aquatint and linocut.

“Picasso was known for his paintings, but as a printmaker he was an innovator,” said Quintanilla.

In particular, he highlighted Picasso’s skill with linocuts. These were made by gouging out a sheet of linoleum which had been fused onto a harder block of wood. Using gouges, Picasso would cut out the areas of his intended image that were to be absent of color. The remaining areas would be inked, and then the image would be transferred to the paper. If additional colors were needed, he would create a separate block and add another layer.

In later years he became more innovative, creating a technique whereby he printed multiple colors from a single linoleum block and cutting out more of the block, successively adding colors while continuing the process.
“You need very good judgment and patience,” said Quintanilla. “Once you cut it out, you can’t put it back.”
According to Benador, Picasso was involved with printmaking throughout his life and learned the new techniques from master printers. This collection contains many of the best examples of Picasso’s prints, he stated.

“One of the reasons this collection is so significant is that through these impressions the smallest details engraved
by the artist are visible,” he stated.

The opening reception for the event is 5-8 p.m. on May 22. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is located at 222-05 56th Ave. in Bayside.