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Head of a Woman (Portrait of the Artist's Mother)

Juan Gris Spanish
Paris, 1912
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 829
While distorted facial features are legible on the top half of this gridded composition, the bottom half is more difficult to read, making it a challenge to identify the woman with pearl earrings. It was Gris’s friend and dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler who first referred to this painting as a portrait of the artist’s mother, “painted from memory, for after leaving Madrid he never saw her again.”

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of a Woman (Portrait of the Artist's Mother)
  • Artist: Juan Gris (Spanish, Madrid 1887–1927 Boulogne-sur-Seine)
  • Date: Paris, 1912
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 21 3/16 × 18 1/4 in. (53.8 × 46.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2025
  • Object Number: 2025.616.37a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Musician’s Table, Juan Gris Spanish, Conté crayon, wax crayon, gouache, cut-and-pasted printed wallpaper, blue and white laid papers, transparentized paper, newspaper, and brown wrapping paper; selectively varnished on canvas
The Musician’s Table
Juan Gris
1914
Drawing of Two Medieval Swords, Mariano Fortuny Marsal Spanish, Paper, ink, graphite, Spanish
Drawing of Two Medieval Swords
Mariano Fortuny Marsal
19th century
Young Sailor II, Henri Matisse French, Oil on canvas
Young Sailor II
Henri Matisse
1906
The Glass of Absinthe, Pablo Picasso Spanish, Painted bronze and perforated tin absinthe spoon
The Glass of Absinthe
Pablo Picasso
Wax original: Paris, spring 1914; Bronze cast: Foundry Florentin Godard, Paris, made to order for Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler by April 16, 1914
Pears and Grapes on a Table, Juan Gris Spanish, Oil on canvas
Pears and Grapes on a Table
Juan Gris
Céret, autumn 1913

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