Picasso's designs for the ballet Le Tricorne were printed in a limited edition in 1920 by the French art dealer Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959), whose Paris office was at 21, rue de la Boétie. In September 1940 Rosenberg and his family moved from Nazi-occupied France to New York where he had offices at 79 East 57th Street. Rosenberg is best known for promoting early modern painters in France and facilitating the migration of French pictures to the USA during the first half of the 20th century.

With Rosenberg's help, Picasso and his wife Olga Koklova became neighbours of Paul Rosenberg and his wife Marguerite at 23, rue de la Boétie, after Rosenberg and Picasso came to a business agreement in 1918 making Rosenberg Piccasso's representative with first choice of his new work. Over the next twenty years the Rosenbergs were often the subjects and recipients of Picasso's drawings and paintings

Rosenberg first published Picasso's designs for Le Tricorne as a set comprising one signed etching and sixty-three reproductions (thirty-one with 'pochoir' or stencilled colouring). The exceptional quality of the printing and colour matching met international acclaim.