Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Portrait of Marie Derval

Pablo Picasso
1881-1973

Portrait of Marie Derval

1901
19 5/8 x 12 5/8 inches (49.8 x 32 cm)
Pen and brush and black ink over graphite.
2017.188

Thaw Collection.

© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Notes
Watermark: A. Lepage ainé Tochon Lepage.
This portrait of popular actress Marie-Louise Derval is one of four illustrations of Parisian entertainers by Picasso published under the heading “Catcalls and Capers” in the humorous journal "Le Frou-Frou" in September 1901. Based on sketches made from life in theaters and cabarets, these drawings have an expressionist style reminiscent of the graphic work of Toulouse-Lautrec and Munch. Although the artist had begun signing his paintings Picasso--his mother's name--a year earlier, for these magazine illustrations he reverted to his father's name, Ruiz, for fear of compromising his reputation as a serious artist. (The second signature was added later.)
Inscriptions/Markings
Signed at lower right in black ink, "Ruiz," and in graphite, "Picasso / 1901."
Classification
Century Drawings