Picasso's 'Vollard Suite' at The British Museum

The British Museum has recently obtained a complete set of Picasso's prints that make up the Vollard Suite and has put them on public display in a free exhibition. It's made up of 100 prints in different themes, sometimes side by side with the works of other artists that inspired him (such as Ingres and Rembrandt). The most famous of these prints is probably the blind Minotaur led by a girl and this is the first print that greets you when you get to the gallery rooms.

A large majority of the prints fall into the 'sculptor's studio' theme of the sculptor and his models and/or works. The majority of these are simple line drawings, outlines that create the scene. It's astonishing what a few lines on a page can create. These are, I think, my favourites, simple line drawings brought to life, given size and being in a simplistic but very powerful way.

We're given Picasso as sculptor, artist, minotaur, rapist and lover, naked and sprawled drinking champagne with his lover. The minotaur was the dark side of his personality and he uses it to explore possibilities. The rape scenes were massively cross-hatched, dark and brooding, bodies colliding and joined in violence. I preferred the minotaur at repose.

The exhibition includes two larger prints with nine panels each, titled 'Dream and Lie of Franco' part 1 and part 2. The small panels tell a story of pain and fear, being populated with Guernica-esque people and animals. Compared with some of the more classically inspired prints these are a wrench away from the sublime and into terror. I wouldn't want them on my walls.

The exhibition takes up two rooms on the fourth floor of the Museum and is well worth a visit. The strong vision behind these prints is both a delight and a dream, stepping into Picasso's world for a moment or two.