Femme aux bras croisés

About the work

An important canvas from Picasso's Blue Period — arguably the artist's first fully realized signature style. The exact origin of the period remains debated among scholars, some placing its start in Paris in the second half of 1901, others in Barcelona during the spring of that year; it is generally agreed to have closed in 1904, when Picasso's palette shifted from blue to rose. Femme aux bras croisés is counted among the most outstanding works of this monochrome group, offering an extraordinarily poignant portrayal of soulful introspection — a quiet counterpoint to the urban-leisure scenes of Picasso's earlier Paris period.

The sitter, seated with arms folded and gaze averted, exemplifies the shift in subject matter that defines the Blue Period: a turn from the documentation of modern city life toward an exploration of interiority, melancholy and human vulnerability — themes that would echo through Picasso's work for the rest of his career.

Selected literature

• M. Raynal, Picasso, Paris, 1922, pl. 9 (titled Portrait de femme; dated 1903)
• C. Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Paris, 1932, vol. 1, no. 105, pl. LII (dated Paris, 1901)
• A.H. Barr, Jr., Picasso: Fifty Years of his Art, New York, 1946, p. 25 (dated Paris, 1901)
• A. Cirici-Pellicer, Picasso antes de Picasso, Barcelona, 1946, pl. 165 (dated 1903)
• C. Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Paris, 1954, vol. 6 (Supplement), no. 543, pl. 67 (dated 1903)
• D. Sutton, Picasso, peintures époques bleue et rose, Paris, 1955, fig. 10
• P. Daix & G. Boudaille, Picasso, The Blue and Rose Periods — A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings 1900–1906, Greenwich, 1967, p. 208, no. VII.7
• A. Moravia & P. Lecaldano, L'opera completa di Picasso blu e rosa, Milan, 1968, p. 89, no. 299
• J. Palau i Fabre, Picasso, The Early Years 1881–1907, Barcelona, 1981, p. 292, no. 728
• M.M. Gedo, "A Youthful Genius Confronts his Destiny: Picasso's Old Guitarist in The Art Institute of Chicago," The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 12 (no. 2), 1986, p. 154
• A. Podoksin, Picasso: The Artist's Works in Soviet Museums, New York & Leningrad, 1989, p. 28

Exhibitions

• Der Rheinische Kunstsalon, Cologne, "Pablo Picasso," 1913 (dated 1903)
• Kunsthaus, Zurich, "Picasso," June–November 1932, no. 10 (dated 1901)
• Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, "Picasso, Blue and Rose Periods 1901–1906," November 1936, no. 9, titled Élégie (dated 1901)
• The Museum of Modern Art & The Art Institute of Chicago, "Picasso: Forty Years of his Art," November 1939–January 1940, no. 16 (dated Paris, 1901)
• The Arts Club of Chicago, "Twentieth Century Art Loaned by Members of the Arts Club of Chicago," October 1954, no. 34
• The Art Institute of Chicago, "Picasso in Chicago," February–March 1968, no. 6