In 1959 Pablo Picasso made one of his sketchbooks available to be reproduced for publication - This was produced by Editions Cercle d'Art and the lithographs were printed at the Mourlot studio in Paris. The result was a limited edition of exact replicas of the original Picasso sketchbook, called "Carnet de la Californie".

In 1955 Picasso had taken up residence in La Californie, a sprawling Art Nouveau villa in Cannes with extensive views over the Mediterranean. He took the large ground floor salon as his studio, quickly filling it with paintings, sculptures, ceramics, African masks, and all manner of items gathered over the course of his life. Within several months he had embarked upon an extensive series of paintings and drawings depicting his new workspace.

It has been suggested that these interiors were a direct response to the legacy of Henri Matisse, who had died the previous year. The studio had been one of his favourite subjects. In his own images, Picasso embraces the same decorative elements, blazing colours, linear patterns, spaciousness and dazzling exterior light that had defined Matisse's approach. The opulent architecture of La Californie, particularly its elaborate windows, lent itself naturally to his aesthetic, and corresponded closely with Picasso's idea of the "Orient". Picasso confirmed to his biographer that it was this resonance that had encouraged him to buy the house in the first place.