Information on Pablo Picasso Spanish, 1881–1973 Femme couchée sur la plage (Reclining Woman on the Beach), 1932 Oil on canvas, 9 3/8 x 13 3/4 in. Jeanne and Irving Mathews Collection 2011.181

Subject Matter In Picasso’s Reclining Woman on the Beach, a curvaceous, yet simply drawn woman rests with her left hand behind her head. Her facial features resemble a lunar profile; she has a shock of blonde hair. Her torso and legs, painted in off-white and accented with yellowish-green and violet shadings, are quite bulbous and amorphous, somewhat like hills in a landscape. In fact, behind the figure, three dark green peaks meet a blue background, suggesting a landscape. A red triangular shape intrudes on the composition at the right. Complementary colors—yellow-green with violet on the body and dark green with red in the background—set up an intense dynamism in the composition.

In January 1927, Picasso (45 years old) noticed and approached 17-year old Marie-Thérèse Walter outside of the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris. By most accounts, within a week they were lovers; she became the subject of many works, either directly or indirectly, for several years. Because he was married and she was a minor (making his relationship with her unlawful), he was extremely discreet and kept their affair private for more than 30 years. During the early years of their relationship, references to Marie-Thérèse in his work were veiled; however by 1930, his depictions of her were more explicit.

Motivated, perhaps even challenged, by a retrospective of Henri Matisse’s art in Paris in 1931, and likely inspired by his lovely, new muse, Marie-Thérèse, Picasso became highly productive, making drawings, paintings, and sculptures, later called “new Picasso.” In 1932, after creating massive sculpted heads of Marie-Thérèse, Picasso painted a series of works of her sleeping, one of which is the McNay’s Reclining Woman on the Beach. The short blonde hair clearly identifies Marie-Thérèse Walter as the subject.

As with other paintings of her, sexuality is strongly implied, given the three short lines forming her pubic area in the central foreground. Further, the curvaceous form as well as violet and green modeling of her body suggests youth and fertility. Picasso brought the figure to the foreground by framing it with geometric shapes, straighter lines, and contrasting colors. Pepé Karmel, an authority on Picasso, characterizes this work as from “a series of miniature variations on the great erotic nudes of 1932, one of the high points of the artist’s career.”

About the Artist Pablo Picasso was born in Málega, Spain, the son of a drawing master who taught him to draw when he was very young. Before he was 14, his drawings had the qualities of a classical master. At age 19, during the time he painted Woman with a Plumed Hat, 1901, he visited Madrid and Paris, and alternated his residence between Paris and Barcelona until 1904.

In early 1901, after the tragic loss of a close friend, Picasso began painting austere subjects in cool blue tones. This palette lasted until 1904 and is called his Blue Period. From 1905 to 1907, his Rose Period, he painted less sober subjects in pinks and grays. From1907 to 1909, he pursued an independent path, influenced by geometric forms in Paul Cézanne’s paintings and stylization in tribal sculpture from Africa, Oceania, and Iberia. These explorations culminated in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 (Museum of Modern Art, New York), considered the first Cubist painting. theMcNay Pablo Picasso Femme couchée sur la plage (Reclining Woman on the Beach), 1932

About the Artist continued Jointly pioneered by Picasso and Georges Braque, Cubism abandoned the 500-year-old system of perspective and other conventions for depicting objects in space, using fragmentation and disintegration, as well as re-forming the visible world. Cubism moved through various phases, including collage and introduction of color, and influenced artists throughout the 20th century.

In 1918, Picasso married Olga Khokhlova, a dancer with the Ballet Russes (for which Picasso designed sets and costumes). In contrast to Picasso’s bohemian preferences, Olga introduced him to high society and a wealthy lifestyle. In spite of their differences and his numerous, long-lasting affairs, Picasso and Khokhlova remained married until her death in 1955. By the 1930s, while his work retained Cubist elements, he was greatly influenced by Surrealism.

Picasso created works in almost every artistic medium, including ceramics, etchings, linocuts, lithographs, murals, painting, and sculpture. He also drew in the many different styles of his career: realism, Cubism, Surrealism, and others. Pablo Picasso died in France at the age of 91.

Quote from the Artist MTW. Today. 13th July 1944, is the 17th anniversary of your birth in me, and double that of your birth in this world where, having met you, I began to live… Letter first published in exhibition catalogue.Picasso in Time: Collection Maya Picasso. Tokyo: Seibu Museum of Art, 1981.

Strategies for Tours Primary Grades (ages 6-8): Given the obvious and unavoidable sexuality in this painting, (this grandmother) would not recommend it for this age. Upper Elementary (ages 9-11): Picasso painted many pictures of Marie-Therese while she was sleeping. Think of someone that you love and tell me what he or she would be doing in the pictures you might paint of them. Adolescents and Adults: Discuss analytical cubism. Compare this work to Sylvette. In what ways is Reclining Woman on the Beach similar to Sylvette? Dissimilar?

Sources Worth Consulting Acquavella, William. Picasso’s Marie-Thérèse. New York: Acquavella Galleries, Inc. 2008. FitzGerald, Michael. Picasso: The Artist’s Studio. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Freeman, Judi. Picasso and the Weeping Women: The Years of Marie-Thérèse Walter & Dora Maar. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994. On-line Picasso Project, https://picasso.shsu.edu/ (accessed January 2012). Rubin, William, ed. Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1980. Varnedoe, Kirk, and Pepe Karmel. Picasso: Masterworks from the Museum of Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1997.

Prepared by Jane Williams Date Spring 2012 theMcNay