Woman in an Armchair

Pablo Picasso

1909–10 · Oil on canvas · Modern and Contemporary Art

Inspired by the portraits of French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, Picasso returned often to the subject of a solitary seated woman. This painting is part of a small group of works created in the fall and winter of 1909–10 and reveals Picasso’s desire to meld the figure with its environment by leveling distinctions between volumetric forms and empty spaces. Many of the artist’s numerous changes to the composition are readily apparent, including the reduction in size of the figure’s head.

Artist

Pablo Picasso

Date

1909–10

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

The Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls Collection, 1997