Picasso painted this work, one of his best-known neoclassical pictures, upon his return to Paris after a summer sojourn in Cap d'Antibes. There, he and his wife, Olga, socialized with the charismatic American expatriates Gerald and Sara Murphy. Because Sara Murphy had beautifully regular features, some writers believe that this canvas is a portrait of her. However, photographs that Picasso took of Olga posing in front of related classical heads demonstrate that at least she thought they were depictions of her.
This picture belonged to the New York collector Lillie P. Bliss, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. She bequeathed the painting to the Modern, from whom The Met purchased the work in 1951 as part of a cooperative agreement (1947–53).
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[Paul Guillaume, Paris, from 1926; purchased on October 29, 1926, for Fr 79,000, at Salon du Franc, Paris]; [Étienne Bignou, Paris]; [Alex Reid and Lefevre, London, in 1927]; [Kraushaar Galleries, New York, 1927; sold in 1927 to Bliss]; Lillie P. Bliss, New York (1927–d. 1931; her estate, 1931–34; her bequest to Museum of Modern Art); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1934–51; acc. no. 96.34; deaccessioned in September 1947 for sale to MMA; sale completed in 1951; transferred in December 1953 to MMA)
Paris. Musée Galliéra. "Salon du Franc," October 22–31, 1926 (sale October 29, 1926), not in catalogue (added as no. 100 bis).
Glasgow. McLellan Galleries. "A Century of French Painting," May 1927, no. 55.
New York. C. W. Kraushaar Art Galleries. "Modern French Painting, Water Colors, and Drawings," October 8–22, 1927, no. 17.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Painting in Paris from American Collections," January 18–February 16, 1930 (extended to March 2, 1930), no. 73.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lizzie P. Bliss, Vice-President of the Museum," May 17–September 27, 1931 (extended to October 6, 1931), no. 101.
Andover, Mass. Addison Gallery of American Art. "The Collection of Miss Lizzie P. Bliss: Fourth Loan Exhibition," October 17–December 15, 1931, no. 78.
Indianapolis. John Herron Art Institute. "Modern Masters from the Collection of Miss Lizzie P. Bliss," January 1932, no. 74.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Summer Exhibition: Painting and Sculpture," June 7–October 30, 1932, no catalogue.
Art Institute of Chicago. "A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture," May 23–October 31, 1933, no. 407.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "The Lillie P. Bliss Collection," May 14–September 12, 1934, no. 48.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Modern Works of Art: Fifth Anniversary Exhibition," November 20, 1934–January 20, 1935, no. 129.
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "Paintings from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection, Lent by The Museum of Modern Art," February 4–March 4, 1935, no catalogue.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "Paintings from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection, Lent by The Museum of Modern Art," March 13–April 10, 1935, no catalogue.
Northampton, Mass. Smith College Museum of Art. "Paintings from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection, Lent by The Museum of Modern Art," April 18–May 19, 1935, no catalogue.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Summer Exhibition: The Museum Collection and a Private Collection on Loan," June 4–September 24, 1935, unnum. checklist.
Studio House, Washington, D. C. "Paintings from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection, Lent by The Museum of Modern Art," January 5–19, 1936, no catalogue.
Society of Arts and Crafts, Detroit. "Paintings from the Lillie P. Bliss Collection, Lent by The Museum of Modern Art," February 3–24, 1936, no catalogue.
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "Texas Centennial Exposition: Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, Graphic Arts," June 6–November 29, 1936, no. 5.
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Paintings of Women from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century," October 14–November 14,1938, no. 57.
Boston Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso–Henri Matisse," October 19–November 11, 1938, not in catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Art in Our Time: An Exhibition to Celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art and the Opening of Its New Building," May 10–September 30, 1939, no. 160 (lent by the Museum of Modern Art, the Lillie P. Bliss Collection).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," November 15, 1939–January 7, 1940, no. 179.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," February 1–March 5, 1940, no. 179.
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," March 16–April 14, 1940, no. 179.
Boston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," April 26–May 25, 1940, no. 179.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," June 25–July 22, 1940, no. 179.
Cincinnati Art Museum. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," September 29–October 27, no. 179.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," November 7–December 8, 1940, no. 179.
New Orleans. Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," December 20, 1940–January 17, 1941, no. 179.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," February 1–March 2, 1941, no. 179.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Museum of Art. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," March 15–April 13, 1941, no. 179.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Masterpieces of Picasso," July 16–September 7, 1941, no catalogue (checklist no. 179).
Sociedad de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. "Picasso: Primera exposición de la Sociedad de Arte Moderno," June 26–September 10, 1944, unnumbered cat. (p. 42).
Denver Art Museum. "A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, and Prints by Picasso," April 12–May 12, 1945, unnumbered cat.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Fifty Years of Modern Art, 1916–1966," June 14–July 31, 1966, no. 29.
Humlebaeck, Denmark. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso," September 20–November 10, 1968, not in catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "100 Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 22–July 27, 1975, no. 78.
Moscow. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. "100 Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," August 28–November 2, 1975, no. 78.
Athens. National Pinakothiki Alexander Soutzos Museum. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Memories and Revivals of the Classical Spirit," September 3–December 2, 1979, no. 114.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective," May 22–September 16, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 242).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design," December 14, 1983–September 2, 1984, unnum. checklist (installed in galleries of Costume Institute exhibition).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Two: Twentieth-Century Art," June 4–September 2, 1985, no catalogue.
Canberra. Australian National Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," March 1–April 27, 1986, unnumbered cat. (p. 15).
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso and the Weeping Women: The Years of Marie-Thérèse Walter and Dora Maar," June 12–September 4, 1994, not in catalogue (brochure no. 5).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation," April 28–September 17, 1996, unnumbered cat. (pp. 55–57).
Paris. Grand Palais. "Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation," October 15, 1996–January 20, 1997, unnumbered cat.
Seattle Art Museum. "Matisse, Picasso, and Friends," February 20–April 20, 1997, no catalogue.
Venice. Palazzo Grassi. "Picasso 1917–1924: Il viaggio in Italia," March 14–July 12, 1998, no. 217.
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. 45).
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. 41.
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. 41.
New York. C&M Arts Gallery. "Picasso: The Classical Period," October 1–December 6, 2003, no. 21.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Picasso and American Art," September 28, 2006–February 4, 2007, unnumbered cat. (pl. 47)
(pl. 19).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 27–August 1, 2010, no. 72.
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918–1936," October 1, 2010–January 9, 2011, unnumbered cat. (pl. 3).
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Picasso Black and White," October 5, 2012–January 23, 2013, no. 21.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Picasso Black and White," February 20–May 28, 2013, no. 21.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern," November 17, 2024–March 29, 2025, no catalogue.
"Feuilles volantes." Cahiers d'art 2, nos 4-5 (1927), suppl. p. 7 (installation photo of Exh. Glasgow 1927).
Ralph Flint. "The Current American Art Season." Art and Understanding 1, no. 2 (March 1930), pp. 196, 198, ill.
"Modern Museum Exhibition of Painting in Paris." Art News 28, no. 17 (January 25, 1930), pp. 4, 12, ill.
Gene Pene du Bois. "The Lizzie P. Bliss Collection." Arts 17, no. 9 (June 1931), p. 611.
Daniel Catton Rich. "The Exhibition of French Art 'Art Institute of Chicago'." Formes no. 33 (1933), p. 383.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. "Who's Crazy Now?" Park Avenue Social Review (November 1933), pp. 11, 34, ill.
John Williams Rogers et al. "Dallas Exhibit Reveals World's Art and Significance of Southwest." Art Digest 10, no. 17 (June 1, 1936), pp. 12, 23, 30, ill.
Helen Gardner. Art through the Ages. New York, 1936, pp. 727–28.
José Pijoán. An Outline History of Art. Vol. 3, Art of the European Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern Art. Chicago, 1938, p. 360, ill.
"Pablo Picasso, 'Woman in White'." Art Trade Journal (May 1938), p. 109.
Gift and Art Buyer (February 1938), p. 33.
Elizabeth McCausland. "Picasso." Springfield Republican (November 19, 1939), unpaginated, ill.
Anita Brenner. "Picasso versus Picasso." New York Times Magazine (November 12, 1939), p. 13, ill.
Sibilla Skidelsky. "Autumn Forecast: A Preview of Exhibitions Scheduled for the Artistic Season." Mademoiselle (October 1939), p. 55, ill.
R. H. Wilenski. Modern French Painters. New York, [1940], p. 300.
Helen F[rances]. Mackenzie. Understanding Picasso: A Study of His Styles and Development. Chicago, 1940, pl. XI.
Regina Shoolman and Charles E. Slatkin. The Enjoyment of Art in America. Philadelphia, 1942, p. 556, pl. 570.
Monroe Wheeler. 20th Century Portraits. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1942, p. 14.
Alfred H. Barr Jr., ed. Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1942, pp. 67, 69, no. 487, ill.
Juan Merli. Picasso: El artista y la obra de nuestro tiempo. Buenos Aires, 1942, p. 185, ill.
A. Conger Goodyear. The Museum of Modern Art: The First Ten Years. New York, 1943, p. 30.
"Picasso en Mexico." Nosotros 1 (August 5, 1944), pp. 62–63, ill. (installation photo of Exh. Mexico City 1944).
Elizabeth McCausland. "Picasso." Picasso. New York, 1944, pp. 11–12, 27, ill.
Jorge I. Crespo de la Serna. "Picasso y la eternidad." Arte y plata (July 1944), p. 25.
"French Modern Art." Senior Scholastic 46, no. 8 (March 26, 1945), p. 8, ill.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Picasso: Fifty Years of His Art. New York, 1946, pp. 129, 282, ill.
Leo Stein. Appreciation: Painting, Poetry, and Prose. New York, 1947, p. 181.
"3 Museums to Exchange Art to 'Clarify Modern Trends'." New York Times (September 22, 1947), pp. 1, 24.
Joan Merli. Picasso, el artista y la obra de nuestro tiempo. 2nd ed. (1st ed.,1942). Buenos Aires, 1948, ill. opp. p. 184.
Alfred H. Barr Jr., ed. Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1948, pp. 59, 318, no. 607, ill.
José Gómez Sicre. "Picasso." Norte 8 (March 1948), p. 13, ill.
Helen Gardner. Art through the Ages. 3rd ed. New York, 1948, p. 734.
Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño. Picasso. Barcelona, 1950, pl. 29.
Hugo Munsterberg. Twentieth-Century Painting. New York, 1951, p. 16.
Theodore Rousseau Jr. "Reports of the Departments: Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 11 (Summer 1952), p. 33.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 5, Oeuvres de 1923 à 1925. Paris, 1952, p. 1, no. 1, ill.
Emily Genauer. "44 Galleries Open Today at Museum." New York Herald Tribune (January 9, 1954), ill. p. 9 (installation photo).
Frank Elgar and Robert Maillard. Picasso: Étude de l'oeuvre. Paris, 1955, pp. 103, 130, ill.
Harrison E. Salisbury. "Molotov Visits Museum and U.N." New York Times (June 16, 1955), p. 3.
Frank Elgar and Robert Maillard. Picasso: A Study of His Work. New York, 1956, pp. 107, 134, ill.
Antonina Vallentin. Pablo Picasso. Paris, 1957, p. 262.
Julio E. Payró. Picasso y el ambiente artístico-social contemporáneo. Buenos Aires, 1957, no. 28, ill.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, pp. 235–37, ill.
John Canaday. "Very Quiet and Very Dangerous." New York Times (February 27, 1972), p. D21, ill.
Edward Burns, ed. Staying on Alone: Letters of Alice B. Toklas. New York, 1973, p. 81.
Douglas Cooper. Alex Reid & Lefevre 1926–1976. [London], 1976, p. 12, ill.
Susan Mayer. "Ancient Mediterranean Sources in the Works of Picasso, 1892–1937." PhD diss., New York University, 1980, pp. 430–31, fig. 97.
Malcolm Gee. Dealers, Critics, and Collectors of Modern Painting: Aspects of the Parisian Art Market Between 1910 and 1930. PhD diss., Courtauld Institute of Art. New York, 1981, pp. 34, 182.
Pablo Picasso. Tokyo, 1981, pl. 43.
Giovanni Carandente and Werner Spies. Picasso: Opere dal 1895 al 1971 dalla collezione Marina Picasso. Exh. cat., Centro di Cultura di Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Florence, 1981, p. 54.
Eduard Beaucamp inPablo Picasso: Eine Ausstellung zum hundertsten Geburtstag. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso. Ed. Werner Spies. Exh. cat., Haus der Kunst München. Munich, 1981, p. 84, ill.
Piri Halasz. "Manhattan Museums: The 1940s vs. the 1980s; Part Two: The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Arts Magazine 59 (March 1985), p. 90.
Michael Lloyd in20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Australian National Gallery. Canberra, 1986, p. 15, ill. (color).
Kay Larson. "The Met Goes Modern: Bill Lieberman's Brave New Wing." New York Magazine 19 (December 15, 1986), p. 47.
Elyse Topalian. "Modern Art in the Met." Apollo 124 (October 1986), p. 362.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, p. 128, colorpl. 107.
Matt Damsker. "The Met Goes Modern: New Wing a Treasure Box, Even If Collection Has Gaps." Hartford Courant (February 11, 1987), p. C7.
William Wilson. "A Mod Fan Dance at The Met." Los Angeles Times (February 8, 1987), p. 5.
Sylvia Hochfield. "Thoroughly Modern Met." Art News 86 (February 1987), p. 116.
Kenneth E. Silver inPicassos Klassizismus: Werke von 1914-1934. Ed. Ulrich Weisner. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Bielefeld, 1988, pp. 86–87, fig. 25.
Roger Bevan. "Museum Review: The Metropolitan Museum: a New Wing for Modern Art." Apollo 127 (January 1988), p. 41.
Calvin Tomkins. Merchants and Masterpieces: The Story of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. rev., enl. ed. New York, 1989, pp. 307, 365.
Kenneth E. Silver. Esprit de Corps: The Art of the Parisian Avant-Garde and the First World War, 1914–1925. Princeton, 1989, pp. 284–91, pl. VI.
Christian Geelhaar. Picasso: Wegbereiter und Förderer seines Aufstiegs, 1899–1939. Zürich, 1993, pp. 178–79, 239, 296 n. 243, fig. 186.
Colette Giraudon. Paul Guillaume et les peintres du XXe siècle: De l'art nègre à l'avant-garde. Paris, 1993, pp. 99, 133, ill.
William Rubin. "The Pipes of Pan: Picasso's Aborted Love Song to Sara Murphy." Art News 93, no. 5 (May 1994), pp. 138–47, ill., cover and fig. 12.
Michael Kimmelman. "Who Was Picasso's Mona Lisa?" New York Times (April 24, 1994), p. 127.
Michael Kimmelman. "A Face in the Gallery of Picasso's Muses Is Given a New Name." New York Times (April 21, 1994), C19, ill.
Ben MacIntyre. "Art Expert Frames the Real Madame Picasso." Times (April 22, 1994), p. 122.
Tomás Martínez Blasco and Manuel Martínez Blasco. Mediterráneo Picasso. Alicante, 1995, pp. 61–62, fig. 28.
Kirk Varnedoe. "The Evolving Torpedo: Changing Ideas of the Collection of Painting and Sculpture of The Museum of Modern Art." Studies in Modern Art, Vol. 5: The Museum of Modern Art at Mid-Century: Continuity and Change. Ed. John Elderfield. New York, 1995, pp. 16, 18, 30–31, 53–56, 58–59, 61–62, 68 n. 74, p. 69 n. 77, p. 70 n. 83, ill.
Herschel B. Chipp and Alan Wofsy. The Picasso Project: Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, and Sculpture, A Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue, 1885-1973. Vol. 3, Neoclassicism II, 1922–1924. San Francisco, 1996, p. 105, no. 23-003, ill.
Anne Baldassari. Picasso and Photography: The Dark Mirror. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Paris, 1997, pp. 154, 253 n. 433.
Michael Asher. Painting and Sculpture from The Museum of Modern Art: Catalog of Deaccessions, 1929 through 1998. New York, 1999, p. 13.
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: From the Ballets to Drama (1917-1926). Cologne, 1999, pp. 353, 516, no. 1298, ill.
Antonio Muñoz Molina inCelebration of Art: A Half Century of the Fundación Juan March. Exh. cat., Fundación Juan March. Madrid, 2005, p. 188.
Deborah Rothschild, ed. Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy. Exh. cat., Willams College, Williamstown. Berkeley, 2007, pp. 52–53, ill.
Kristina Wilson. The Modern Eye: Stieglitz, MoMA, and the Art of the Exhibition, 1925–1934. New Haven and London, 2009, pp. 134, 136, fig. 66 (installation photo, Exh. New York 1932).
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. 7, fig. 7 (Arnold Newman photograph "The Tripartite Agreement," 1947).
Holland Cotter. "All the Picassos in the Cupboard." New York Times (April 29, 2010), p. C25.
Magdalena Dabrowski 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. 198–200, no. 72, ill. (color).
Isabelle Duvernois 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. 200, fig. 72.1 (Infrared reflectogram, detail).
Olivier Berggruen inPicasso Black and White. Ed. Carmen Giménez. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 2012, pp. 71, 218, no. 21, ill. (color).
Calvin Tomkins. "Onward and Upward with the Arts: The Met and the Now." New Yorker (January 25, 2016), p. 33.
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, p. 523, ill. (color), colorpl. 442.
Julia May Boddewyn. "Picasso's American Valentine." Ojo (Online Journal of the Picasso Administration). no. 36, May 2020, p. 3.
Elsa Smithgall in George T. M. Shackelford with Elsa Smithgall. Bonnard's Worlds. Exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum. Fort Worth, 2023, p. 60, fig. 4 (installation photo, Exh. New York 1930).
Kate Walbert. "Lillie P. Bliss." Inventing the Modern: Untold Stories of the Women Who Shaped The Museum of Modern Art. Ed. Ann Temkin and Romy Silver-Kohn. New York, 2025, pp. 63, 68–71, ill. (shown in situ with Alfred H. Barr Jr., A. Conger Goodyear, and Cornelius N. Bliss Jr., March 12, 1934).
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
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