Woman in a Red Armchair
Woman in a Red Armchair | |
---|---|
Artist | Pablo Picasso |
Year | 1929 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 65.1 cm × 54 cm (25 in × 21 in) |
Location | Menil Collection |
Woman in a Red Armchair (French: Femme au fauteuil rouge) is an oil on canvas painting by artist Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1929 and is housed at the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas. The painting was influenced by Surrealism and may be a portrait of Picasso's first wife, Olga Khokhlova, whom he married in 1918. It was vandalised while on display in 2012, but quickly restored.
Background
Throughout his life, Picasso had seven serious relationships with women, which are clearly reflected in his artwork as a form of visual diary. Several of these relationships resulted in psychological trauma for the women involved, including his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, who developed a hatred for the artist after their relationship ended. Picasso appeared to be aware of the psychological impact caused by his relationships, as he told his biographer John Richardson, "It must be painful for a girl to see in a painting that she's on the way out." This process of documenting the deterioration of his relationships can be seen in his works, such as Head of a Woman (1927), Head on a Red Background (1928) and The Kiss (1931). Picasso's ambivalence towards women has been the subject of debate. However, Curator Judi Freeman at Los Angeles County Museum opined that "no way did Picasso hate women - he couldn't live without them".
Picasso married Khokhlova, a Russian ballerina, in 1918, but quickly grew bored of her lifestyle. In the early stages of their marriage, he depicted her with elegance and sentimentality in works like Olga Koklova in an Armchair (1917) and Mother and Child (1922). However, this changed over time as their love waned, as can be seen in her portrayal in Seated Woman (1927). From this point, Picasso changed his palette from muted tones to intense, saturated colour, and his sharp, angular lines were transformed to round, soft forms. Picasso's dramatic change in style can be attributed to his meeting of 17-year-old Marie-Thérèse Walter, who was to become his mistress for the next nine years.[1]
Description
This painting resembles a traditional portrait of a woman sitting in an armchair, but Picasso has deconstructed the subject so that she is unrecognisable. The woman is considered to bear a likeness to Picasso's wife, Olga Khokhlova, but she may be an unnamed model. After marrying in 1918, the couple separated about ten years later, roughly two years before this painting was created. Picasso changed his depictions of Khokhlova over the course of their relationship, moving from an affectionate to a more sinister portrayal. During the 1920s, Picasso was influenced by the Surrealist movement, which can be seen by the distortion in this portrait.[2]
Vandalism
On 13 June 2012, Woman in a Red Armchair was vandalised while on display at the Menil Collection by a 22-year-old man named Uriel Landeros, who stencilled a small image of a bullfighter killing a bull and the word "conquista" on the work, which means "conquer" or "conquest". Landeros was sentenced to two years in prison for felony graffiti and criminal mischief, and the painting was restored. The vandal claimed that he had not intended to damage the painting, but did it "to turn heads, to raise awareness". This act of vandalism was similar to the defacing of Guernica in 1974.[3]
See also
- Nude in a Black Armchair
- Portrait of Dora Maar
- The Weeping Woman
References
- ^ McKenna, Kristine (27 February 1994). "The Feminine Mistake". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Woman in a Red Armchair". Menil Collection. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "Studio will spotlight work of fugitive in Menil vandalism - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
External links
- Woman in a Red Armchair at Menil Collection
- v
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- Le petit picador jaune (1889)
- Science and Charity (1897)
- Le Moulin de la Galette (1900)
- The Appointment (1901)
- Child with a Dove (1901)
- La Gommeuse (1901)
- Yo, Picasso (1901)
- Portrait of Jaime Sabartés (1901)
- The Blue Room (1901)
- Femme aux Bras Croisés (1901-02)
- Old Jewish Man with a Boy (1903)
- The Old Guitarist (1903)
- La Vie (1903)
- Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (1903)
- Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904)
- The Actor (1904-1905)
- Woman Ironing (1904)
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- Young Girl with a Flower Basket (1905)
- Famille d'acrobates avec singe (1905)
- Boy Leading a Horse (1905–06)
- Portrait of Gertrude Stein (1905–06)
- Head of a Young Woman (1906)
- Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)
- Woman with a Fan (1908)
- Brick Factory at Tortosa (1909)
- Woman with a Fan (1909)
- Femme et pot de moutarde (1910)
- Girl with a Mandolin (1910)
- Portrait of Ambroise Vollard (1910)
- Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1910)
- The Accordionist (1911)
- Le pigeon aux petits pois (1911)
- La Coiffeuse (1911)
- Violon et Raisins (1912)
- Bottle, Glass, Fork (1912)
- Ma Jolie (1912)
- Arlequin (1913)
- Ma Jolie (1914)
- Three Musicians (1921)
- Reading the Letter (c. 1921)
- The Pipes of Pan (1923)
- The Three Dancers (1925)
- Woman in a Red Armchair (1929)
- Le Repos (1932)
- Girl before a Mirror (1932)
- La Lecture (1932)
- Le Rêve (1932)
- Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932)
- Nude in a Black Armchair (1932)
- Femme à la montre (1932)
- Two Girls Reading (1934)
- Jeune Fille Endormie (1935)
- Guernica (1937)
- Portrait of Dora Maar (1937)
- Woman in Hat and Fur Collar (1937)
- The Weeping Woman (1937)
- Girl with a Red Beret and Pompom (1937)
- Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) (1937)
- Maya with Doll (1938)
- Woman's Head (1939)
- Dora Maar au Chat (1941)
- The Charnel House (1944–1945)
- Nature morte au poron (1948)
- Massacre in Korea (1951)
- Les Femmes d'Alger series (1955)
- Las Meninas (1957)
- The Fall of Icarus (1958)
- Bust of a Seated Woman (Jacqueline Roque) (1960)
- Jacqueline (1961)
- Femme au Chien (1962)
- Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) (1931)
- Tête de femme (Dora Maar) (1941)
- Bull's Head (1942)
- Baboon and Young (1951)
- Figure découpée (1963, 1964, 1965)
- Chicago Picasso (1967)
- Sylvette (1970)
- Vollard Suite (1930–1937)
- Minotaur Kneeling over Sleeping Girl (1933)
- Minotauromachy (1935)
- The Dream and Lie of Franco (1937)
- 347 Series (1968)
- Girl from Majorca (1905)
- Don Quixote (1955)
- Toros y toreros (1961)
- Le Taureau (1945-1946)
- Dove (1949)
- Desire Caught by the Tail (c. 1941)
- The Four Little Girls (c. 1947–48)
- Picasso and the Ballets Russes
- Parade
- The Three-Cornered Hat
- Pulcinella
- Le Train Bleu
- Mercure
- Musée Picasso (Paris)
- Musée Picasso (Antibes)
- Museu Picasso (Barcelona)
- Museo Picasso Málaga (Malaga)
- Museo Casa Natal (Malaga)
- Château de Boisgeloup (Normandy)
- Olga Khokhlova (first wife)
- Jacqueline Roque (second wife)
- Maya Widmaier-Picasso (daughter)
- Claude Picasso (son)
- Paloma Picasso (daughter)
- Diana Widmaier Picasso (granddaughter)
- Marina Picasso (granddaughter)
- Bernard Ruiz-Picasso (grandson)
- José Ruiz y Blasco (father)
(France)
- Bateau-Lavoir (Montmartre Paris)
- Villa La Vigie (Juan-les-Pins, Summer 1924)
- Château de Boisgeloup (Gisors, 1930-1937)
- Château of Vauvenargues (Vauvenargues, 1958-1962)
- Villa La Californie (Cannes, 1955-1961)
- Château de Vie (Mougins, 1961-1973)
television about
- Visit to Picasso (1949)
- Guernica (1950)
- The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
- The Adventures of Picasso (1978)
- Surviving Picasso (1996)
- Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death (2001)
- Modigliani (2004)
- Genius (2018 TV series)
- Carles Casagemas
- Carl Nesjar
- Lydia Corbett
- Lump (dog)
- Fundación Picasso
- Picasso. In the heart of darkness (1939-1945) (2019-2020 exhibition)
- Picasso & Lump (2006 book)
- Picasso referendum of Basel
- Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria
- Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1915 painting)
- "If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso" (1924 poem)
- Woman, Bird, Star (Homage to Pablo Picasso) (1973 painting)
- "Pablo Picasso" (1976 song)
- The Blue Guitar (1977 etchings)
- Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993 play)
- Picasso (crater)