This oil painting represents the culmination of Picasso’s many variations on the theme of three women at the spring, carried out in different forms and arrangements that summer. The artist likely executed this work after the large red chalk version on the opposite wall. Its representation of chiton-clad women gathered around a water source quotes motifs traditionally depicted in Greco-Roman antiquity and French academic painting. However, Picasso’s version disrupts these classical models with stiffly disjointed bodies, mannequin-like heads, and masklike faces. Note also the curious lack of water in this scene: the central figure holds her hand out beneath the spring, yet, contrary to expectation, nothing runs over her outstretched palm.
Gallery label from Picasso in Fontainebleau, October 8, 2023–February 17, 2024
