Although today art historians associate a woman at her toilette with Edgar Degas's famous series of nude bathers, shown in Paris at the 1886 Impressionist exhibition and repeated in his oeuvre until about 1910, it is unlikely that Picasso could have seen many examples. Degas had drawn inspiration from the Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, and that same source was used by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and Auguste Renoir in their development of the theme at the end of the nineteenth century. In an odd twist, however, Picasso chose to suppress in this picture all the eroticism that normally attends the subject. Instead, he turns the picture into a contrapuntal variation on the Holy Family, with echoes of Leonardo's Virgin and Saint Anne at the Musée du Louvre. Picasso painted this composition on a much-used canvas: there are at least three complete paintings beneath the present surface.
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[Galerie Vollard, Paris; probably bought from the artist in November 1906–at least 1911]; [André Level, Paris]; [Hugo Perls, Berlin, by January 1926–until 1930; sold on May 8, 1930, for $11,000, to Matisse and Dudensing]; [Pierre Matisse, New York, in shares with Valentine Dudensing, New York, from 1930; sold to Clark]; Stephen C. Clark, New York (ca. 1930–37; his anonymous gift in 1937 to the Museum of Modern Art, New York); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1937–51, acc. no. 451.37; deaccessioned in September 1947 for sale to MMA; sale completed in 1951, transferred in December 1953 to MMA)
Berlin. Ausstellungshaus der Secession. "XXII Ausstellung der Berliner Secession," 1911, no. 192.
New York. Valentine Gallery. "Exhibition of 7 Outstanding Paintings by Picasso," March 6–April 1, 1933, no. 2.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Summer Exhibition: Painting and Sculpture," July 10–September 30, 1933, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Modern European Art," October 3–27, 1933, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Masterpieces of Picasso," July 16–September 7, 1941, no catalogue.
Utica, N. Y. Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," November 1–24, 1941, no. 51.
Durham, N. C. Duke University. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," November 29–December 20, 1941, no. 51.
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill-Nelson Art Gallery. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," January 24–February 14, 1942, no. 51.
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," February 20–March 13, 1942, no. 51.
Michigan. Grand Rapids Art Gallery. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," March 23–April 13, 1942, no. 51.
Hanover, N. H. Dartmouth College. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," April 27–May 18, 1942, no. 51.
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Vassar College Art Gallery. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," May 20–June 15, 1942, no. 51.
Wellesley, Mass. Wellesley College. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," September 27–October 18, 1942, no. 51.
Sweet Briar, Va. Sweet Briar College. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," October 28–November 18, 1942, no. 51.
Williamstown, Mass. Williams College. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," November 28–December 19, 1942, no. 51.
Bloomington. Indiana University. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," January 1–22, 1943, no. 51.
Alton, Ill. Monticello College. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," Febeuary 5–26, 1943, no. 51.
Portland, Ore. Portland Art Museum. "Picasso: Forty Years of His Art," April 1–30, 1943, no. 51.
Paris. Grand Palais (peintures) and Petit Palais (dessins, sculptures, céramiques). "Hommage à Pablo Picasso," November 20, 1966 –February 28, 1967, no. 32.
Vienna. Osterreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst. "Pablo Picasso," April 24–June 30, 1968, no. 7.
Tokyo National Museum. "Treasured Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," August 10–October 1, 1972, no. 104.
Kyoto Municipal Museum. "Treasured Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 8–November 26, 1972, no. 104.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The World of Balenciaga," March 23–September 9, 1973, not in catalogue.
Richmond. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Picasso: Painting and Prints," November 18–December 22, 1974, no catalogue.
New York. Acquavella Galleries. "Picasso: A Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of Cancer Care, Inc., The National Cancer Foundation," April 15–May 17, 1975, unnumbered cat.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective," May 22–September 16, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 74 and checklist p. 11).
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. "Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso," May 15–September 1, 1981, no. 226.
Madrid. Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo. "Picasso, 1881–1973: Exposición antológica," November 5–December 27, 1981, no. 43.
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 One: Twentieth-Century Art," February 1–April 30, 1985, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Three: Twentieth-Century Art," October 22, 1985–January 26, 1986, 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. 14).
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery. "20th Century Masters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," May 7–July 1, 1986, unnumbered cat.
Barcelona. Museu Picasso. "Picasso, 1905–1906: From the Rose Period to the Ochres of Gósol," February 5–April 19, 1992, no. 192.
Kunstmuseum Bern. "Picasso, 1905–1906: From the Rose Period to the Ochres of Gósol," May 8–June 26, 1992, no. 192.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Picasso: The Early Years, 1892–1906," September 10, 1997–January 4, 1998, no. 147.
Paris. Musée Picasso. "Picasso 1901–1909: Chefs d'oeuvre du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," October 21, 1998–January 25, 1999, unnumbered cat. (pl. 9).
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. 21).
Paris. Musée Picasso. "Picasso—Ingres," March 16–June 21, 2004, no. 18.
Montauban. Musée Ingres. "Picasso—Ingres," July 8–October 3, 2004, no. 18.
Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "Picasso: Tradition and Avant-garde," June–September 4, 2006, no. 6.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," September 14, 2006–January 7, 2007, no. 149.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," February 17–May 13, 2007, no. 149.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "De Cézanne à Picasso: Chefs d'oeuvre de la galerie Vollard," June 19–September 16, 2007, no. 96.
Paris. Grand Palais. "Picasso et les maîtres," October 8, 2008–February 2, 2009, unnumbered cat. (p.137).
National Gallery, London. "Picasso: Challenging the Past," February 25–June 7, 2009, no. 10.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 27–August 1, 2010, no. 30.
Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Eating Fire: Picasso's Discovery of Paris (1900-1907)," February 18–May 30, 2011, unnumbered cat. (pl. 99).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde," February 28–June 3, 2012, (p. 40, pl. 17).
Musée d'Orsay, Paris. "Picasso: Bleu et rose," September 18, 2018–January 6, 2019, unnumbered cat. (p. 246).
Basel. Fondation Beyeler. "The Young Picasso: Blue and Rose Periods," February 3–May 26, 2019, extended to June 16, 2019, unnumbered cat.
André Level. Picasso. Paris, 1928, pp. 14, 56, pl. 14.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 1, Works from 1895 to 1906. Paris, 1932, p. 141, no. 313, ill.
Fine Arts 20 (May 1933), frontis. and p. 4, ill.
Suzanne La Follette. "Twentieth Century Painting." Arts and Decoration 40 (December 1933), ill. p. 19.
Alfred H. Barr Jr., ed. Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1942, p. 66, no. 478.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Picasso: Fifty Years of His Art. New York, 1946, pp. 43, 254, 282, ill.
"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, pl. 147, ill.
Alfred H. Barr Jr., ed. Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1948, pp. 57, 318, no. 594, ill.
José Gómez Sicre. "Picasso." Norte 8 (March 1948), p. 13, ill.
Adelyn D. Breeskin. "Early Picasso Drawings in the Cone Collection." Magazine of Art 45 (March 1952), p. 108, ill.
Frank Elgar and Robert Maillard. Picasso: Étude de l'oeuvre. Paris, 1955, pp. 32, 267, ill.
Frank Elgar and Robert Maillard. Picasso: A Study of His Work. New York, 1956, p. 36, ill.
Antonina Vallentin. Pablo Picasso. Paris, 1957, p. 128.
Julio E. Payró. Picasso y el ambiente artístico-social contemporáneo. Buenos Aires, 1957, fig. 12.
Phoebe Pool. "Sources and Background of Picasso's Art, 1900–6." Burlington Magazine 101 (May 1959), p. 179 n. 24, p. 181.
Maurice Raynal. Picasso. Geneva, 1959, p. 34, ill.
Anthony Blunt and Phoebe Pool. Picasso, the Formative Years: A Study of His Sources. London, 1962, pp. 25, 32, pl. 170.
Hans Ludwig C. Jaffé. Pablo Picasso. New York, 1964, pp. 76–77, ill.
Theodore Reff. "Book Reviews: 'Picasso, The Formative Years,' Anthony Blunt and Phoebe Pool." Art Bulletin 48 (June 1966), p. 266.
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. 232–33, ill.
Pierre Daix and Georges Boudaille. Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, 1900–1906. Greenwich, Conn., 1967, pp. 90–92, 98, 102, 284, 289, no. XIV.20, ill.
Hans Ludwig C. Jaffé. Pablo Picasso. Paris, 1967, pp. 74–75, ill.
Paolo Lecaldano. L'opera completa di Picasso blu e rosa. Milan, 1968, p. 107, no. 244, pl. 51.
Georges Boudaille. Picasso: Première époque, 1881–1906: Périodes bleue et rose. Paris, 1969, p. 14, pl. XIV.
Jean Leymarie. Picasso: The Artist of the Century. New York, 1972, pp. 72, 292, ill.
Edward Burns, ed. Staying on Alone: Letters of Alice B. Toklas. New York, 1973, pp. 77, 79, 81.
Domenico Porzio and Marco Valsecchi. Understanding Picasso. New York, 1974, pl. 23.
Richard J. Wattenmaker. Puvis de Chavannes and the Modern Tradition. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 1975, p. 174 n. 3, p. 175.
Pierre Cabanne. Le Siècle de Picasso, I: La Jeunesse, le cubisme, le théâtre, l'amour, 1881–1937. Paris, 1975, p. 177.
Pierre Cabanne. Le Siècle de Picasso, I: La Naissance du cubisme, 1881–1912. Paris, 1975, p. 213.
Pierre Cabanne. Pablo Picasso: His Life and Times. New York, 1977, p. 104.
Meyer Schapiro. Modern Art, 19th & 20th Centuries: Selected Papers. New York, 1978, p. 118 n.4.
Carol Hynning Smith. Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 1979, p. 78.
Ronald Christ. "Picasso's Hands: The Mutability of Human Form." ArtsCanada no. 236–37 (September–October 1980), p. 22, ill.
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: The Early Years, 1881–1907. New York, 1981, pp. 441, 549, no. 1213, ill.
Pablo Picasso. Tokyo, 1981, pl. 32.
William S. Lieberman inProfil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux. Bordeaux, 1981, pp. 174–75, no. 226, ill., dates it 1905–6.
Jacques Perry. Yo Picasso. Paris, 1982, pp. 129, 132.
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. 14, 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.
Marie-Laure Bernadac and Paule de Bouchet. Picasso, le sage et le fou. Paris, 1986, p. 43, ill.
Natasha Staller. "Early Picasso and the Origins of Cubism." Arts Magazine 61 (September 1986), p. 89.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, p. 114, colorpl. 91.
Pierre Daix. Picasso créateur: La Vie intime et l'oeuvre. Paris, 1987, pp. 58, 64, 100.
Georges Boudaille, with Marie-Laure Bernadac, and Marie-Pierre Gauthier. Picasso. Secaucus, N.J., 1987, p. 31, fig. 45.
Pierre Daix. "Picasso's Time of Decisive Encounters." Art News 86 (April 1987), pp. 139, 141, ill.
Sylvia Hochfield. "Thoroughly Modern Met." Art News 86 (February 1987), p.116.
Pierre Daix and Georges Boudaille. Picasso, 1900–1906: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Neuchâtel, 1988, pp. 90, 98, 102, 284, 289, no. XIV.20, ill.
Hans Ludwig C. Jaffé. Pablo Picasso. Concise ed. London, 1988, pp. 58–59, ill.
Pierre Daix in William Rubin. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Exh. cat., Musée Picasso. Vol. 2, Paris, 1988, pp. 493–94, fig. 3.
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, p. 307.
John Richardson with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 1, 1881–1906. New York, 1991, pp. 417, 428, ill.
Denys Chevalier. Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods. New York, 1991, p. 82, ill.
Neil Cox. "La Morale des lignes: Picasso, 1907–1910; Modernist Reception; the Subversion of Content; and the Lesson of Caricature." PhD diss., University of Essex, 1991, vol. 1, pp. 85, 88–89, 201; vol. 2, p. 39, pl. 26.
Hélène Seckel. Picasso: Les Chefs-d'oeuvre de la période rose. Quarante tableaux. Munich and Paris, 1992, pl. 22.
Pierre Daix. "L'Entrée de Picasso dans l'avant-garde (1905–1906)." Connaissance des Arts no. 481 (March 1992), pp. 58–59, 62, fig. 5.
"Pablo Picasso: Der Aufbruch eines Genies." Pan: Zeitschrift für Kunst und Kultur (March 1992), p. 37, ill.
"Picasso 1905–1906." Punt Presencia (March 1992), ill.
Christian Geelhaar. Picasso: Wegbereiter und Förderer seines Aufstiegs, 1899–1939. Zürich, 1993, pp. 34, 177, fig. 24.
Pierre Daix. Picasso: Life and Art. New York, 1993, pp. 48, 54, 60.
Barbara Burn, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1983). New York, 1994, p. 430, no. 2, ill. (color).
Pierre Daix. Dictionnaire Picasso. Paris, 1995, pp. 50, 84, 199, 248, 348, 406, 462, 694, 698, 765.
Carsten-Peter Warncke. Pablo Picasso, 1881–1973. Ed. Ingo F. Walther. Vol. 1, The Works 1890–1936. Cologne, 1995, ill. p. 141 (color).
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. 30–31, 34, 53, 55–56, 58–59, 61–62, 69 n. 77, ill.
Pierre Daix inPicasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation. Ed. William Rubin. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1996, pp. 268, 294 n. 40.
Octavi Marti. "Paris exhibe los inquietos Picassos de la juventud viajera del pintor." El País (November 2, 1998), p. 39.
Michael Asher. Painting and Sculpture from The Museum of Modern Art: Catalog of Deaccessions, 1929 through 1998. New York, 1999, p. 12, erroneously listed as 451.47 instead of 451.37.
Brigitte Leal, Christine Piot, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. The Ultimate Picasso. New York, 2000, pp. 91, 95, 98, 505, fig. 200.
William S. Lieberman. "Les Peintres de Paris à New York." Connaissance des arts no. 578 (December 2000), ill. p. 129 (color, installation photo).
Lucy Belloli. "Lost Paintings beneath Picasso's 'La Coiffure'." Metropolitan Museum Journal 40 (2005), pp. 151–61, ill.
Giorgio Cortenova. Pablo Picasso, su vida, su obra. Barcelona, 2005, p. 92, ill.
Julia May Boddewyn in Michael FitzGerald. Picasso and American Art. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2006, pp. 339, 350.
Jean Clair et al. Picasso y el circo. Exh. cat., Museu Picasso. Barcelona, 2006, p. 28, fig. 3.
Sabine Rewald inMasterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 204, 288–89, no. 189, ill.
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, pp. 7, 12, 86–89, no. 30, ill. (color).
Holland Cotter. "All the Picassos in the Cupboard." New York Times (April 29, 2010), ill. p. C25 (installation photo, Exh. New York 2010).
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, pp. 90–91, figs. 30.5, 30.7, 30.9, 30.11 (X-radiographs).
Raphaël Bouvier inPicasso: The Blue and Rose Periods. Ed. Raphaël Bouvier. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Basel, 2019, p. 247, ill. p. 246 (color).
Julia May Boddewyn. "Picasso's American Valentine." Ojo (Online Journal of the Picasso Administration). no. 36, May 2020, p. 13, ill. (color).
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
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