Pablo Picasso

PABLO PICASSO (Malaga, 1881 - Mougins, France, 1973).
"Femme dans l'atelier (Jacqueline)", 1956.
Phototipia with pochoir on Arches vejurado paper, copy 146/350.
Signed and justified in pencil.
With label on the back of Guy Spitzer, publisher.
Measurements: 47 x 56 cm (image); 63,5 x 70,5 cm (paper); 92 x 112,5 cm (frame).

The work "Femme dans l'atelier" was made by Pablo Picasso in 1956. The combination of phototypesetting (photomechanical process) and pochoir (manual application of color with stencils) gives the work an exceptional pictorial aspect. It was published in a limited edition of 350 copies.

The scene shows a female figure, identified as Jacqueline Roque, Picasso's last companion and muse, sitting in a studio, contemplating a canvas resting on an easel. The figure, resolved with rounded strokes and simplified curves, appears enveloped in an intimate, silent atmosphere. The face, in profile, with elongated lines and dark eyes, reflects serenity and concentration.

The furniture and the environment of the studio (the lattice chair, the table with objects, the easel with the canvas) are treated with geometric shapes and chromatic planes that allude to synthetic cubism, but in a much looser and lyrical language. The palette is dominated by earthy tones, grays and turquoise greens, with warm accents that balance the composition.

This work belongs to Picasso's mature period, when the artist had already assimilated and transcended his previous stages (cubism, classicism, surrealism) to create a personal and eclectic language. In the mid-1950s, Jacqueline Roque became his main model and inspiration, and numerous works from this period portray her in contemplative, domestic or artistic attitudes, as in this case.

The workshop scene is a repeated motif in Picasso's work. In this case, Picasso is represented indirectly through the creator's space, and by placing Jacqueline in front of a canvas, he reaffirms her role as muse, but also as an active presence in the artistic process.

Creator of Cubism together with Braque, Picasso began his artistic studies in Barcelona, at the Provincial School of Fine Arts (1895). Only two years later, in 1897, Picasso had his first individual exhibition at the café "Els Quatre Gats". Paris was to become Pablo's great goal and in 1900 he moved to the French capital for a brief period of time. When he returned to Barcelona, he began to work on a series of works in which the influences of all the artists he had known or whose work he had seen could be seen. He is a sponge that absorbs everything but retains nothing; he is searching for a personal style. Between 1901 and 1907 he developed the Blue and Pink Stages, characterized by the use of these colors and by their subject matter with sordid, isolated figures, with gestures of sorrow and suffering. The painting of these early years of the twentieth century was undergoing continuous changes and Picasso could not remain on the sidelines. He became interested in Cézanne, and based on his example he developed a new pictorial formula together with his friend Braque: Cubism. But Picasso did not stop there and in 1912 he practiced collage in painting; from that moment on, anything goes, imagination became the master of art. Picasso is the great revolutionary and when all painters are interested in cubism, he is concerned with the classicism of Ingres. The surrealist movement of 1925 did not catch him unawares and, although he did not participate openly, it served as an element of rupture with the previous, introducing in his work distorted figures with great force and not exempt of rage and fury. Picasso is represented in the most important museums around the world, such as the Metropolitan, the MOMA and the Guggenheim in New York, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the National Gallery in London or the Reina Sofia in Madrid.