Access a slow-looking exercise related to this work.

Transcript
Marilee Talkington: Pablo Picasso painted this work, now titled "Woman in Profile", in 1901, likely for his exhibition at the Vollard gallery in Paris. Oil on paperboard, it measures just over one and a half feet tall by one foot wide.

This work features vibrant blends of yellows, oranges, whites, and greens that are softened by the way Picasso applied small dabs of paint that swirl to create a textured, slightly blurred effect.

Our view is drawn toward the center of the composition, where a young woman’s face is depicted in profile, facing the viewer’s left. Only her head is visible, as her neck and upper torso are wrapped in a large, puffy, white garment accented by green and yellow highlights. She is depicted from the waist up, her garment filling the lower-right quadrant of the painting.

Her face is powdered white with pink rouging high on the cheek, bright red lipstick accentuating her lips, and pale blue shadow on her eyelid. Two tiny strokes of yellow define an earring. Her visible eye looking ahead of her, to the viewer’s left, is darkly lined, and she has a straight, slightly upturned nose. Her forehead is covered by a brim of hair loosely piled on her head crowned by a large flowerlike swirl of red, orange, and black. The flower adorns a lavish hat sweeping upward from her hairline and fanning into and beyond the upper-left corner of the composition. Picasso depicts the largess of her hat with sweeps of greens and yellows blended softly and accented with small dots of bright yellow. Short, double dashes of dark, parallel lines emphasize the upward movement, as the hat sits high on her head.

She is surrounded by blocks of soft colors applied with a wet-in-wet technique. At the bottom left, in line with her torso, is a darker area of tans, yellows, greens, and reds blended together in short brushstrokes. Above that, in line with her face, are lighter blends of whites and yellows painted with short, broad brushstrokes. In the top-right corner of the composition is another light blend of white and yellow dabs of paint.

Toward the bottom-left corner, Picasso’s signature in dark paint is underlined with a short dash on either end.

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