Woman in an Armchair

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This watercolor comes from a group of drawings and paintings depicting a woman seated in an armchair, a subject that preoccupied Picasso with intensity during the summer he spent in the beach town Biarritz in 1918. Some have naturalistic details; others, like this sheet, are characterized by schematized forms and geometric structure. Here, the figure clasps her hands at the center of the composition, and her long, billowing hair echoes the scrolls from the furniture. The series reflects Picasso's repeated engagement with a single motif in service of stylistic modulation and experimentation.

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