Advanced Search 
Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Fernande Olivier
Pablo Picasso (Spanish (worked in France), 1881–1973)
Spanish
1905–06
Object Place: France
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
100 x 81 cm (39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Arthur K. Solomon Collection
Accession Number2004.446
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In 1904 Picasso moved from Spain to Paris where he eventually settled in a studio in Montmartre. Shortly thereafter he met Fernande Olivier, an artist’s model. For the next six years Fernande was Picasso’s lover and muse, as well as model for paintings, drawings, and sculpture. (One of Picasso’s sculptures of her is in the MFA’s collection.) Painted with subtle assurance in thin, red-brown oils on a white ground, this work is an elegant hybrid of painting and drawing.
ProvenanceA. Saint, Paris [see note 1]. By 1928, Galerie Percier, Paris [see note 2]; January 5, 1939, sold by Galerie Percier, through Justin K. Thannhauser (dealer; b. 1892 - d. 1976), Paris, to Arthur K. Solomon (b. 1912 - d. 2002), Cambridge, England and Cambridge, MA [see note 3]; 2004, gift of the Arthur K. Solomon collection to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 23, 2004)
NOTES:
[1] According to Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 1, Oeuvres de 1895 à 1906 (Paris, 1932), xlvi, no. 254. [2] André Level, Picasso (Paris, 1928), p. 54, no. 13. [3] Many thanks to Megan Fontanella for her assistance confirming the details of the sale.
NOTES:
[1] According to Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, vol. 1, Oeuvres de 1895 à 1906 (Paris, 1932), xlvi, no. 254. [2] André Level, Picasso (Paris, 1928), p. 54, no. 13. [3] Many thanks to Megan Fontanella for her assistance confirming the details of the sale.
Copyright© 2011 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.