Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), “Woman with a Wreath” / “Femme à la couronne de fleurs”

Collector's lithograph on Velin paper, framed in a frame measuring 84 x 65 cm;
an official edition of the Pablo Picasso Foundation, limited to 200 pieces, numbered in pencil (20/200 on the reverse; facsimile of Picasso’s signature).
On the reverse, the copyright notice of the Fondation Pablo Picasso: “Copyright of the Pablo Picasso Foundation. Pablo Picasso, born in Málaga in 1881 and died in Mougins in 1973. Lithograph printed in an edition of 200 pieces. All pieces have been numbered,” along with a blindstamp reading “Picasso’s Head”;
The young woman with facial features geometrically fragmented in a manner characteristic of Picasso, light hair, a floral wreath, and clasped hands is none other than Marie-Thérèse Walter, one of Picasso’s most important muses. This is a very characteristic technique of Picasso’s. In his 1939 painting *Femme à la couronne de fleurs*, he also employed this extraordinary synthesis of profile and frontal view. Picasso created the original drawing for this lithograph in 1938. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona confirms that the original painting was created on January 8, 1938.
Marie-Thérèse was an exceptionally important woman in Picasso’s life. He met her in 1927, when she was 17, and their relationship began a few years later. In the 1930s, she became one of his most frequently depicted models. Picasso transformed her image in many ways—from very gentle, classical portraits to strongly Cubist distortions.
In 1938, Picasso created several exceptionally interesting portraits of women. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona lists, alongside Marie-Thérèse, portraits of Nusch Éluard and Dora Maar.