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Reading at a Table

1934
Not on view
In this painting of his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter reading a book, Picasso returns to a favored subject: a woman seated alone. The darkened room and glow from the lamp give her an ethereal presence, while her alabaster skin, blonde hair, and floral crown enhance her youth. Though she featured prominently in Picasso’s work at the time, their relationship was the least public of Picasso’s many amatory alliances, a fact that imbues this painting with a sense of tender intimacy. The canvas, one of several similar compositions Picasso painted of Walter, is a poem by a man in love.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Reading at a Table
  • Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
  • Date: 1934
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 63 7/8 × 51 3/8 in. (162.2 × 130.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn, in honor of William S. Lieberman, 1995
  • Object Number: 1996.403.1
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

Audio

Cover Image for 1905. Reading at a Table

1905. Reading at a Table

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