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.
This portrait represents Picasso's first use of linoleum cut for a major work of art. He first engaged with the medium in making posters, under the tutelage of master printer Hidalgo Arnéra at his workshop in the South of France.
Gallery label from Picasso: Variations and Themes, March 28–September 30, 2010.
