The 100 etchings commissioned by the great art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard, and known as the 'Vollard Suite', are devoted to the themes of The Battle of Love, The Sculptor's Studio, Rembrandt, The Minotaur and The Blind Minotaur. They date from 1930-36 with three portraits of Vollard himself etched on the same day, 4 May 1937. Working completely in tone which moves from velvety black to middle grey, Picasso makes amazing use of the sugar aquatint process to activate the dealer's features and space around his head. Roger Lacouriere printed the edition in 1939, though publication was delayed with Vollard's death in a car crash in 1939 and by the outbreak of war.