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Pablo Picasso Study for Les Demoiselles D'Avignon Paris, early 1907

  • MoMA, Floor 5, 502 The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleries

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.

Gallery label from 2024
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
7 1/2 x 8" (18.5 x 20.3 cm) (irregular)
Credit
Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest (by exchange)
Object number
372.1991
Copyright
© 2024 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Department
Painting and Sculpture

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Provenance Research Project

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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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