Picasso’s Light Paintings:

In 1949, LIFE magazine’s Gijon Mili visited and documented Pablo Picasso in the South of France. Mili was known for technical innovations, and Picasso, appear of Mili’s talents, wanted to try and few experiments of his own. Alas, these light drawings were part of the documentation.

As LIFE explains, “This series of photographs, known ever since as Picasso’s ‘light drawings’ were made with a small electric light in a darkened room; in effect, the images vanished as soon as they were created - and yet they were perpetuated in these amazing photographs.