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Gertrude Stein

1905–6
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 908
The famous writer and expatriate Gertrude Stein was among the first Americans to respond enthusiastically to European avant-garde art. She held weekly salons in her Paris apartment populated by European and American artists and writers. For Picasso, Stein’s early patronage and friendship was critical to his success. He painted this portrait of her between 1905 and 1906 at the end of his so-called "Rose Period." He reduces her body to simple masses—a foreshadowing of his adoption of Cubism—and portrays her face like a mask with heavy lidded eyes, reflecting his recent encounter with Iberian sculpture.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Gertrude Stein
  • Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Date: 1905–6
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 39 3/8 × 32 in. (100 × 81.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Gertrude Stein, 1946
  • Object Number: 47.106
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

Audio

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2075. Gertrude Stein

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