Inspired by the portraits of French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, Picasso returned often to the subject of a solitary seated woman. This painting is part of a small group of works created in the fall and winter of 1909–10 and reveals Picasso’s desire to meld the figure with its environment by leveling distinctions between volumetric forms and empty spaces. Many of the artist’s numerous changes to the composition are readily apparent, including the reduction in size of the figure’s head.
[Paul Guillaume, Paris, by 1929–d. 1934]; his widow, Domenica Guillaume, née Juliette Lacaze, later Mme Jean Walter, Paris (from 1934); Jacques Sarlie, New York (by 1954–60; his sale, Sotheby's, London, October 12, 1960, no. 10, for £30,000, through Kirnberger, to Perls); [Perls Galleries (Klaus G. Perls), New York, from 1960, stock no. 6410]; Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls (until 1997; their gift to MMA)
Paris. Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. "La Grande peinture contemporaine à la collection Paul Guillaume," May 25–June 27, 1929, unnumbered cat. (p. 123; as "Femme assise").
New York. Perls Galleries. "Picasso-Braque-Gris: Cubism to 1918," January 4–February 6, 1954, no. 3 (as "Femme Assise dans un Fauteuil," 1909, lent by Jacques Sarlie).
New York. Perls Galleries. "21 Major Acquisitions," October 10–November 25, 1961, no. 14 (as "Femme Assise dans un Fauteui," 1909).
New York. M. Knoedler and Co., Inc. "Picasso: An American Tribute. 1895–1909," April 25–May 12, 1962, no. 43 (as "Seated Nude," late 1909, lent by Perls Galleries, New York).
New York. Perls Galleries. "Pablo Picasso: Highlights in Retrospect," October 12–November 20, 1965, no. 1 (as "Femme Assise dans un Fauteuil," lent by a private collection).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 67 and brochure no 2).
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," September 14–November 24, 2002, no. 15.
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 7, 2002–March 9, 2003, no. 15.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 27–August 1, 2010, no. 51.
Brussels. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. "Picasso & Abstraction," October 14, 2022–February 12, 2023, no. 33.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 2a, Works from 1906 to 1912. Paris, 1942, p. 98, no. 198, ill., calls it "Femme assise dans un fauteuil," winter 1909, from the former collection of Paul Guillaume.
Jaime Sabartés. Paintings and Drawings of Picasso. Paris, 1946, pl. 6, calls it "Figure" and dates it 1910.
"Collector's Apartment." Vogue 127 (March 1, 1956), p. 154, ill. (installation photo, Jacques Sarlie's New York apartment).
"A Picasso Work Brings $134,400." New York Times (October 13, 1960), p. 9.
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet. Picasso, The Cubist Years, 1907–1916: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and Related Works. Boston, 1979, p. 252, no. 333, ill., call it "Woman Seated in an Armchair".
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: Cubism, 1907–1917. New York, 1990, pp. 166, 502, fig. 470, calls it "Woman Sitting beside a Window" and locates it in a private collection, USA.
Colette Giraudon. Paul Guillaume et les peintres du XXe siècle: De l'art nègre à l'avant-garde. Paris, 1993, ill. p. 103 (installation photo, Exh. Paris 1929).
John Richardson with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 2, 1907–1917. New York, 1996, ill. p. 145.
J[ason]. E[dward]. K[aufman]. "Perls Adds Gems to the Met." Art Newspaper no. 61 (July–August 1996), p. 14.
"Treasures for Met." Los Angeles Times (May 21, 1996), p. F2.
Pierre Georgel inFrom Renoir to Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée de l'Orangerie. Exh. cat., Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Montreal, 2000, pp. 68, 85 n. 151, ill. p. 36 (installation photo of Exh. Paris 1929).
Pepe Karmel. Picasso and the Invention of Cubism. New Haven, 2003, pp. 69–70, 125, figs. 83, 142, calls it "Woman Seated in an Armchair".
Julia May Boddewyn in Michael FitzGerald. Picasso and American Art. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2006, p. 371.
William Grimes. "Klaus Perls, Art Dealer Who Gave Picassos to the Met, Dies at 96." New York Times (June 5, 2008), p. B6.
Gary Tinterow inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, p. 12.
Lisa M. Messinger inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, pp. 145–47, no. 51, ill. (color).
Lucy Belloli inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, p. 146, fig. 51.3 (X-radiograph).
Marcella Sirhandi. "Mohan Samant (1924–2004). Part I. Biography. Part II: Styles and Techniques, Themes and Subjects." Mohan Samant: Paintings. Ahmedabad, 2013, p. 248, fig. 105 (color).
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1955, printed 1961
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
