Bust of woman with blue hat Art Print

Picasso met the Surrealist photographer and painter Dora Maar in the winter of 1935–1936. They began a relationship that lasted until 1946. It was a meeting of minds: Maar was an intellectual, engaged in left-wing politics and spoke Spanish, having spent much of her life in Buenos Aires. Maar photographed Picasso, his art, his studio and their circle, while he made many portraits inspired by her. Except for a few drawings, Maar said that she did not pose directly for Picasso. His varied depictions of her are reflective of his artistic preoccupations at different times.

In this painting as in many others, Picasso portrays Maar seated and wearing a hat. She holds the armrest of the chair with one hand and a piece of fruit in the open palm of the other. The formality of this frontal pose echoes historic court portraits of a woman enthroned. Maar was a successful and innovative fashion photographer and always paid 
close attention to her dress. Regardless of the restrictions imposed by the war, she wore distinctive artistic hats. In the enclosed space of this composition, her angular blue hat almost tips the top of the canvas. The striped sections of her buttoned tailored jacket 
seem to enclose her body like armour.

All prints have the title and artist's name printed at the bottom of each reproduction.

Dimensions: 50 x 70 cm (including white border)

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)
Bust of a woman with a blue hat
Paris, 7 March 1944
Oil on canvas
92 × 60.2 cm
Musée national Picasso-Paris 
Pablo Picasso Gift in Lieu, 1979. 
MP193, pp. 62–63