Picasso painted this brothel scene in Gósol, a remote village in the Spanish Pyrenees that he and his companion Fernande Olivier (who posed for this work) visited in the summer of 1906. The inscriptions describe the poses, furnishings, and colors. This sheet of paper was among the art supplies that Picasso brought with him from Paris. Earlier drawings of kneeling and standing nudes are visible in the upper left quadrant (the sheet was oriented in the other direction when he made them, so the legs appear upside down). A dark oval shape at lower center dates to yet another drawing campaign: it is the head of a figure in a seated lotus pose that resembles American writer Gertrude Stein, whose portrait, now in The Met’s collection (47.106), Picasso had begun painting earlier that year.
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Inscription: Signed [possibly at a later date] (lower left, in red crayon): Picasso [underlined]; inscribed (upper left): decoración / en las paredes / de paisajes flores y frutas; (upper right): Un cuarto pintado color de / rosa—unas cortinas blancas / un sofa de aquellos de paja que / hay en [illegible] encima almohadones / morados una mesa de / marmol encima / unas copas y un / espejito; (center): quizá unos / trajes de / gasa; (lower left): tiene en / la mano / un cigarillo; (bottom left): El tiene un porrón / en la mano / un plato de frutas aquí
Marking: watermark: INGRES
[Ambroise Vollard, Paris, in 1922; as "Nus" and as "Trois personnages, coloriage," dated 1905, inv. no. 2546; purchased for Fr 1,000]; Max Pellequer, Paris (by 1932–at least 1948); [Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London (by 1953–55; sold on February 16, 1955, for $11,000, to Hillman]; Alex and Rita K. Hillman, New York (1955–his d. 1968; transferred on October 16, 1968 to Hillman Foundation); The Alex Hillman Family Foundation, New York (1968–2008; sold in April 2008 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (2008–2013; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–16; gift to MMA)
London. Marlborough Fine Art. "Important French Masters of the XIXth and XXth Centuries," February–March 1953, no. 19 (as "Nus," 1905).
London. Marlborough Fine Art. "French Masters of the XIX and XX Centuries," October–November 1954, no. 37 (as "Nus," 1905).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: A 25th Anniversary Exhibition," May 31–September 5, 1955, no. 110 (as "Nudes").
Bronx Museum of the Arts. "Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," April 10–May 2, 1972.
Roslyn Harbor, N. Y. Nassau County Museum of Fine Art. "Modern Masters: Paintings and Drawings from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," December 19, 1977–February 12, 1978, no. 24 (as "Nudes").
New York. Jamaica Arts Center. "Drawings by Modern Masters from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," March 1–April 16, 1978.
Austin. University Art Museum, University of Texas. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," January 21–August 13, 1979.
Ann Arbor. Museum of Art, University of Michigan. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," September 19–December 15, 1980.
Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford. "Modern Masters from the Collection of a New York Foundation in Celebration of the Charter Anniversary of the University of Hartford," October 15–November 21, 1981.
Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Museum of Art. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," September 1–November 29, 1982.
Hunstville, Ala. Huntsville Museum of Art. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," January 23–August 21, 1983.
Saint Petersburg, Fla. Museum of Art. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," September 17, 1983–January 1, 1984.
Lawrence. Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," February 1–June 16, 1984.
Newark Museum. "Modern Masters: Impressionist and Modern Paintings from the Collections of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation and the Newark Museum," June 27–September 3, 1984.
Huntington, W. V. Huntington Galleries. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," September 16, 1984–January 6, 1985.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," February 3–March 24, 1985.
Williamsburg, Va. Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," May 11–August 11, 1985.
Ames, Ia. Brunnier Gallery and Museum, Iowa State University. "Selections from the Collection of the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," August 27–November 24, 1985.
Brooklyn Museum. "The Alex Hillman Family Foundation Collection: French Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries," February 15, 1986–January 6, 1987.
Tucson. University of Arizona Museum of Art. "Paintings and Drawings from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation," October 20, 1991–March 15, 1992.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso," October 2, 1999–January 4, 2000, no. 502 (as 1906).
Dallas Museum of Art. "The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso," February 1–May 7, 2000, no. 502.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 48.
Royal Academy of Arts, London. "Picasso and Paper," January 25–August 2, 2020, no. 73.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 1, Works from 1895 to 1906. Paris, 1932, unpaginated (list of plates), no. 340, pl. 160, as "Nudes," 1905.
Joan Merli. Picasso, el artista y la obra de nuestro tiempo. 2nd ed. (1st ed.,1942). Buenos Aires, 1948, p. 599, no. 129, ill., as "Desnudos," 1905.
Important French Masters of the XIXth and XXth Centuries. Exh. cat., Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. London, 1953, p. 14, no. 19, ill. p. 11.
French Masters of the XIX and XX Centuries. Exh. cat., Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. London, 1954, p. 32, no. 37, ill. p. 21.
Paintings from Private Collections. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1955, p. 16.
"Paintings from Private Collections." Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art 22, no. 4 (Summer 1955), p. 33, no. 110, ill., as "Nudes".
Henry A. La Farge. "Today's Collectors: Alex L. Hillman. Courbet to Dubuffet." Art News 58, no. 6 (October 1959), p. 34, fig. 11, as "Nudes," 1905.
Pierre Daix and Georges Boudaille. Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, 1900–1906. Greenwich, Conn., 1967, p. 297, no. XV.18, ill.
Paolo Lecaldano. L'opera completa di Picasso blu e rosa. Milan, 1968, p. 108, no. 253, ill.
Leo Steinberg. "The Philosophical Brothel." Art News 71, no. 5 (September 1972), pp. 25–26, fig. 29.
William P. Miller, Jr. Modern Masters: Paintings and Drawings from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation. Exh. cat., Nassau County Museum of Art. Roslyn Harbor, N. Y., 1977, unpaginated, no. 24, ill.
Alberto Moravia and Paolo Lecaldano. Tout l’oeuvre peint de Picasso périodes bleue et rose. Ed. Pierre Daix. Paris, 1980, p. 108, no. 253, ill.
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: The Early Years, 1881–1907. New York, 1981, pp. 461–62, 552, no. 1309, ill., as spring–summer 1906.
Sarah Faunce. "Hillman Collection Exhibition Extended." Brooklyn Museum Newsletter (January–February 1987), p. 1.
Leo Steinberg in Hélène Seckel. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Exh. cat., Musée Picasso. Paris, 1988, pp. 334–36, ill. no. 21.
Leo Steinberg. "The Philosophical Brothel." October 44 (Spring 1988), p. 35, fig. 31.
Hélène Seckel. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Exh. cat., Musée Picasso. Paris, 1988, vol. 1, p. 14, no. 12, ill. p. 15.
Sarah Faunce. "Modern Masters: French Art from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation Collection." Brooklyn Museum Newsletter (June 1988), p. 1, as "Nudes".
Sarah Faunce. Modern Masters French Art from the Alex Hillman Family Foundation Collection. Exh. brochure, Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, 1988, unpaginated, as "Nudes," summer 1906.
John Richardson with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 1, 1881–1906. New York, 1991, pp. 447–48, ill. p. 449.
Pepe Karmel in Emily Braun. The Hillman Family Collection: Manet to Matisse. New York and Seattle, 1994, p. 128, no. 43, ill. pp. 6 (detail), 129, as "Nudes/Three nudes (Nus/Trois nus)".
Anne Baldassari. Le Miroir noir: Picasso, sources photographiques, 1900–1928. Exh. cat., Musée Picasso. Paris, 1997, p. 65, fig. 51 (English ed., p. 40, fig. 40).
Robert S. Lubar. "Unmasking Pablo's Gertrude: Queer Desire and the Subject of Portraiture." Art Bulletin 79 (March 1997), p. 77, fig. 21.
John Elderfield. "Moving Aphrodite: On the Genesis of 'Bathers with a Turtle' by Henri Matisse." Bulletin (St. Louis Art Museum) 22, no. 3 (Fall 1998), p. 39, fig. 2.21.
Dorothy Kosinski et al. The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Dallas, 1999, p. 322, no. 502, as 1906.
Anne Baldassari inThe Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Dallas, 1999, p. 294, no. 502, ill., as 1906.
John Richardson in collaboration with Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. Vol. 2, The Cubist Rebel, 1907–1916. New York, 2009, p. 15.
Elizabeth Snowden in "The Rose Period, 1905–1906." The Picasso Project: Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, and Sculpture, A Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue, 1885–1973. Ed. Alan Hyman. Vol. 24, San Francisco, 2012, p. 192, no. 1906–091, ill., pp. 325, 335.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 47.
Christine Poggi inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 28–31, 36, 302(3)n.3, no. 48, ill. p. 29 (color), fig. 19 (infrared reflectogram of recto revealing an earlier drawing by Picasso underneath the gouache layer).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 276–77, fig. 48 (installation photo, Exh. Ann Arbor 1980).
Eugenio Carmona inPicasso 1906: The Turning Point. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Madrid, 2024, p. 24.
Pablo Salazar inPicasso 1906: The Turning Point. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Madrid, 2024, p. 75, no. 16.
Pablo Rodríguez inPicasso 1906: The Turning Point. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Madrid, 2024, p. 264.
Written on the verso (vertically at upper left as well as lower-left and lower-right corners, in pencil): 2546 [enframed] [Ambroise Vollard inv. no.]; (upper-left corner, in blue pencil): PH / 96
Learn how scholars used analytical imaging and digital manipulation to uncover a hidden drawing behind the many layers of Picasso’s _Three Women_ (1906).
Metropolitan Museum conservator Rachel Mustalish makes discoveries beneath the surface of this 1906 drawing, including a link to Pablo Picasso's iconic portrait of Gertrude Stein.
The ninth-annual Women and the Critical Eye program featuring a conversation between Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow, who discuss Leonard Lauder's criteria for collecting, including the importance of the "aesthetic wow," rarity, state of conservation, and attention to a work's curriculum vitae.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1921
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