This original etching, Minotaure Vaincu (Vanquished Minotaur)is one of 100 images from the famous Vollard Suite. Picasso created the etching plate that was used to print this etching on May 29, 1933. The suite of 100 images was named for Picasso's art dealer and publisher, Ambroise Vollard (1867-1939). Vollard, responsible for giving the first one-man show in Paris for Picasso in 1901. Vollard also gave the first solo shows for artists Cezanne and Matisse in the Paris gallery he created in 1893 where he also exhibited art by Degas, Rodin, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, among others. In most of these early shows Vollard defied public taste, supporting avante-garde artists, all of whom later painted portraits of Vollard in appreciation for his early support. The 100 Suite Vollard images are generally categorized by themes: The Battle of Love (5 images), The Sculptor's Studio (46), Rembrandt (4), The Minotaur and The Blind Minotaur (15), and the Portraits of Vollard (3). The remaining 27 images deal with various themes such as women dressing and women sleeping, the circus, bullfight, and love (both tender and otherwise), among others. Evident among all the prints in the Vollard Suite is a unity bound by the nod to neoclassicism, influenced by Picasso's earlier trips to art centers in Italy including Rome, Florence, Naples and Pompeii. This image is from the Minotaur grouping and reflects a young man putting the Minotaur to death in an arena. The etching is autobiographical in that the mythical Minotaur—part man, part bull—was Picasso's alter ego in the 1930s and part of a broader exploration of Classicism that persisted in his work for many years. The Minotaur was also emblematic for Surrealists, who saw it as the personification of forbidden desires.
In most every image Picasso's technical inventiveness is evident. In fact, several seem to match the hand of Rembrandt, the great etcher from the 17th century, and it is Rembrandt's face which appears in several of the Picasso etchings. In his final etchings of the 100 plates, he mastered the technique called sugar lift to achieve tonal qualities and other rich effects that were not developed before Picasso.

Picasso mixed various media, in most cases starting with line etching, then adding drypoint and later aquatint to achieve effects of light and atmosphere or dense darkness. It was Roger Lacourière who was commissioned by Vollard to print the Picasso etching plates in 1939 although the etchings were not offered for sale until 1950. There were 313 etchings printed from each plate. On Montval paper were 260 copies watermarked either "Picasso" or "Vollard". There were also 50 copies printed on a Montval paper about 2" larger in both directions and those were watermarked "Papeterie Montgolfier à Montval". After World War II Petiet had Picasso sign a certain number of sets of the Vollard Suite etchings. In 1969, Picasso, so preoccupied with the creation of his 347 Series, stopped signing the Vollard etchings, and that is why there are still so many unsigned today.

Most recently the Picasso Suite Vollard etchings were exhibited at the National Gallery in Washington D.C., the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Norton Simon Museum, and the Nassau County Museum of Art. There are more than 120 major museums which display significant Picasso collections. It is said that Picasso's Vollard Suite is the greatest group of prints produced in the 20th century.

This work of art is signed 'Picasso' lower right, and is beautifully presented in Spanish style, hand gilded gold frame.