Picasso met Jacqueline Roque in 1953, when she worked in a sales position for the pottery studio where he made ceramics in the South of France. She was twenty-seven when they met; he was seventy-two. Roque moved in with Picasso in 1954; the couple married in 1961. They remained together until the artist’s death, in 1973, a relationship that for Picasso endured far longer than any other.
Picasso experimented extensively with this portrait of Roque, resulting in a characterization that is embodied by the group as a whole. Considering no single print definitive, Picasso made editions at several stages in its evolution.
Gallery label from Picasso: Variations and Themes, March 28–September 30, 2010.
