Original Lithograph
Created in 1957
Hand signed in red pencil lower right, dated in the plate (Dec 18, 1957)
Image size: 21.85" x 17.3" (55.5 x 44 cm)
Paper size: 26" x 20" (66.1 x 51 cm)
Edition: proof, numbered edition was 50
Provenance: Proprietary stamp of Marina Picasso Collection on the reverse
Reference: Bloch, 'Pablo Picasso, catalogue de l'oeuvre gravé et lithographié' No. 851

The sitter is Picasso's second wife Jacqueline Roque who became his muse and partner in the last few decades in his life. She appears in countless paintings, drawings, lithographs and ceramics, often depicted in a profile pose, emphasizing her exotic characteristics.
Here she is seated reading, holding a book, eyes cast down, fully immersed in an interior world.

At the end of the 1940s, Picasso and his muse-mistress Françoise Gilot, started to spend summers on the Côte d’Azur in the South of France. He was inspired by the clarity of the light and the bright Mediterranean colours. Picasso became interested in ceramic works, and started to work on his potteries at the Madoura workshop. It was in this studio in Vallauris where he met Jacqueline in the summer of 1952. She, forty-five years of Picasso’s junior, the most loyal and fanatic admirer of his talent, became his second wife in 1961. They lived together for 20 years, and for 17 of them she was the only woman Picasso painted.

Certificate of Authenticity is included.

The artwork is framed. When delivered or picked-up in gallery, framing is included. Artwork ships unframed unless otherwise arranged. Please contact us if you need shipping the artwork framed.

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