Oil on canvas
In 1906–07 Picasso worked on hundreds of drawings and sketches in preparation for what would become Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. This small oil sketch on unstretched canvas provides a window into the artist’s thought process in conceptualizing Demoiselles. It depicts seven figures—five nude women and two men—in the curtained room of a brothel. Potential clients, the two male figures include a sailor at center and a medical student at left, holding a skull. Neither of these figures wound up in the final painting; Picasso modified the composition so that the women confront the viewer directly, rather than face the men.
2024
Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
1907 - ?, Pablo Picasso, Paris.
? - 1954, Maurice Raynal, Paris, probably acquired from the artist.
1954 - November 28, 1991, Estate of Maurice Raynal sold through Francis Briest Commissaire Priseur, Drouot Montaigne (Ancienne Collection Maurice Raynal, November 28, 1991, lot 1), Paris.
1991, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, purchased at auction through Francis Briest Commissaire Priseur, Drouot Montaigne.
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Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973 1251 works onlineWith these words, Picasso shed light on two central principles of his artistic production over nearly 80 years: his openness to a diverse range of styles, subject matters, and mediums, and his resistance to the notion that change in art necessarily corresponds to improvement or progress.
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Sketch
A rendering of the basic elements of a composition, often made in a loosely detailed or quick manner. Sketches can be both finished works of art or studies for another composition.
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Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Gallery 502Legend has it that Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon shocked those who first saw it in his Paris studio in 1907.
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