The model for this figure was fifty-eight-year-old Madame Putman (1850–1939), who, at more than six feet tall and nearly three hundred pounds, fascinated the diminutive Picasso. A widow and mother of seven, she was the artist's landlady in La Rue-des-Bois, a small village north of Paris where Picasso stayed from early August to early September 1908. This is one of seven drawings the artist made of the powerful woman as she went about her chores (she was too busy to pose) in preparation for two paintings.
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the artist, Paris and elsewhere (1908–d. 1973; his estate, 1973–78; Succession Picasso inv. 00993); his granddaughter, Marina Picasso (1978–84; consigned to Jan Krugier, Geneva, from 1980, and through Krugier to Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York; sold by Rosenberg in January 1984 to MMA)
Munich. Haus der Kunst. "Pablo Picasso: Eine Ausstellung zum hundertsten Geburtstag. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso," February 14–April 20, 1981, no. 61.
Venice. Centro di Cultura di Palazzo Grassi. "Picasso: Opere dal 1895 al 1971 dalla collezione Marina Picasso," May 3–July 26, 1981, no. 74.
Cologne. Josef-Haubrich Kunsthalle. "Pablo Picasso: Eine Ausstellung zum hundertsten Geburtstag. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso," August 11–October 11, 1981, no. 61.
Frankfurt. Städtische Galerie. "Pablo Picasso: Eine Ausstellung zum hundertsten Geburtstag. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso," October 22, 1981–January 10, 1982, no. 61.
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Pablo Picasso: Eine Ausstellung zum hundertsten Geburtstag. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso," January 29–March 28, 1982, no. 61.
Tokyo. National Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso: Masterpieces from Marina Picasso Collection and from Museums in the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R.," April 2–May 29, 1983, no. 45.
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso: Masterpieces from Marina Picasso Collection and from Museums in the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R.," June 10–July 24, 1983, no. 45.
New York. Paul Rosenberg & Co. "Picasso: The Primacy of Design, Major Drawings in Black and Colored Media from the Marina Picasso Collection, in Association with Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva," October 26–December 3, 1983, no. 9.
Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Picasso: Works from the Marina Picasso Collection in Collaboration with Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva, with Loans from Museums in Europe and the United States of America and Private Collections," July 29–September 23, 1984, no. 37.
Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Picasso: Works from the Marina Picasso Collection in Collaboration with Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva, with Loans from Museums in Europe and the United States of America and Private Collections," October 10–December 2, 1984, no. 37.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection Two: Twentieth-Century Art," June 4–September 2, 1985, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "60 Drawings: Recent Acquisitions," October 23, 1990–January 15, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings: Additions to the Collection," May 23–September 29, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso the Engraver: Selections from the Musée Picasso, Paris," September 18–December 21, 1997, not in catalogue.
Paris. Musée Picasso. "Picasso 1901–1909: Chefs d'oeuvre du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," October 21, 1998–January 25, 1999, unnumbered cat. (fig. 20).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 27–August 1, 2010, no. 45.
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Picasso Black and White," October 5, 2012–January 23, 2013, no. 5.
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 6, Supplément aux volumes 1 à 5. Paris, 1954, p. 121, no. 1004, ill.
John Russell. "70 Drawings by Picasso: Picasso Drawings and Sculpture Shown." New York Times (November 4, 1983), p. C20.
William S. Lieberman in "Twentieth Century Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1983–1984. New York, 1984, p. 106, ill.
Anatoli Podoksik. Picasso: La Quête perpétuelle. Paris, 1989, p. 173.
Barbara Burn, ed. Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 291, ill.
Ruben Charles Cordova. "Primitivism and Picasso's Early Cubism." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1998, pp. xiii, 145–46, 148, 163–65, 169, 412, fig. 2.3.
Sabine Rewald inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, pp. 128–29, no. 45, ill. (color).
Rachel Mustalish inPicasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow and Susan Alyson Stein. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2010, p. 128.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
1929
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