Portrait of Olga

1921

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This work is one of several female heads that Picasso rendered during a summer stay in Fontainebleau with Olga and their newborn son. Although Olga was the inspiration for the work, if not the model, her features have been schematized and generalized. The piece consists of two sheets of paper attached to another sheet of paper that was then adhered to canvas. On one sheet, Picasso has depicted the woman’s face along with the collar of her dress, bringing both to a high degree of finish and creating the convincing illusion of dimensionality. On the second sheet, appended below the first, Picasso sketched in the figure’s arms and midsection with pencil. His use of collage interrupts the structural continuity of the work in much the same way that his use of two different levels of finish disrupts its formal consistency.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Portrait of Olga
Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
Date: 1921
Geography: Country of Origin France
Medium: Pastel and charcoal on paper on canvas
Dimensions: 50 × 38 in. (127 × 96.5 cm)
Classification: Pastels & Oil Sketches on Paper
Credit Line: Musée national Picasso – Paris. Dation Jacqueline Picasso, 1990
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art