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Head of a Woman (Fernande)

Dark colored sculpture of womandz head composed of fractured geometric shapes.
© 2018 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • Dark colored sculpture of womandz head composed of fractured geometric shapes.

Date:

1909

Artist:

Pablo Picasso
Spanish, active France, 1881–1973

About this artwork

Fernande Olivier was Pablo Picasso’s model and lover from 1905 until 1912. This portrait retains the basic features of her distinctive face, translated into the faceted and fragmented geometric language of Cubism. The Art Institute’s bronze is one of a small edition produced by the Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1910. It was sold in 1912 to the photographer and dealer Alfred Stieglitz, who loaned it to the New York presentation of the International Exhibition of Modern Art. Better known as the Armory Show, this groundbreaking exhibition presented European avant-garde art to American audiences for the first time and traveled to the Art Institute in March 1913.

Status

On View, Gallery 125

Department

Modern Art

Artist

Pablo Picasso

Title

Head of a Woman (Fernande)

Place

Spain (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1909

Medium

Bronze

Inscriptions

Signed, b.l.: Picasso

Dimensions

40.7 × 20.1 × 26.9 cm (16 1/8 × 9 7/8 × 10 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection

Reference Number

1949.584

Copyright

© 2018 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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