Updated 27 June 2025
On Display Picasso: Human Figures
On Display
Woman with a Blue Bodice
| Date | 1920 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper |
| Size（cm） | 33.0 x 23.0 |
| Inscriptions | Signed (falsely?) in pencil lower right: Picasso (the signature is absent on the photo. repro. in Zervos, 1949); Dated in pencil on the verso: 24-3-20 |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | Zervos III 361; Cooper 246; M1725 |
| Category | Drawings |
| Collection Number | D.1959-0044 |
Picasso, who visited Rome in 1917, was greatly influenced by classical art. Strong outlines became very prominent in comparison to works from his period of cubism, which sought to resolve objects into their constituent shapes. It was the beginning of his so-called Neo-Classical period. Even in this sketch from 1920, there is a fullness and precision to the lines, and the figure of the model conveys an imposing sense of volume. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Paul Rosenberg, Paris; purchased from Paul Rosenberg, Paris by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, ca. November 1921, as ‘Italian woman’ (Fr. 8,000, with a marble by Rodin, ‘La douleur’) [see letter from Rosenberg to Léonce Bénédite, dated 10 November 1921, in Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris; copy in NMWA curatorial files]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1965
- Picasso et le théâtre, Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, 22 June 1965 - 15 September 1965, cat. no. 85
- 1997
- Expressiveness of Materials, National Museum of Art, Osaka, 17 April 1997 - 22 June 1997, cat. no. 57
- 1998
- Picasso 1917-1924 : the Italian journey, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 14 March 1998 - 12 July 1998, cat. no. 89, col. repr.
- 2001
- French Masterpiece Drawings from The National Museum of Western Art Collection, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 27 March 2001 - 24 June 2001
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: A One-Hundred-Year Odyssey: Upon the 60th Anniversary of the NMWA, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 11 June 2019 - 23 September 2019, cat. no. 117, col. repr.
- 2022
- Picasso and His Time: Masterpieces from Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin, The National Museum of Western Art, 8 October 2022 - 22 January 2023, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 4 Febrary 2023-21 May 2023, cat. no. 33, col repr.
Bibliography
- 1949
- Zervos, Christian. Pablo Picasso. vol. 3, Paris, 1949, no. 361.
- 1955
- La Collection Matsukata. Tokyo, Asahi-Shimbun, 1955, no. 30. (in Japanese)
- 1959
- Mizue: a monthly review of the fine arts. no. 653, September 1959, p. 73. (in Japanese)
- 1959
- Mizue: a monthly review of the fine arts. no. 651, Special Number, July 1959 (in Japanese)
- 1961
- Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-221.
- 1967
- Cooper, Douglas. Picasso: Théâtre. Paris, Editions Cercle d'art, 1967, no. 246.
- 1971
- Takashina Shuji. The Matsukata Collection. Kyoto, Shibundo, 1971 (Kindai-no-Bijutsu, vol. 2), fig. 104. (in Japanese)
- 1981
- Takashina, Shuji. Shin-Kotenshugi-no Jidai: 1917-1930. Tokyo, Kodansha, 1981 (The Complete Works of Picasso, vol. 4), no. 15. (in Japanese)
- 1989
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), p. 111, cat. no. 106.
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 1184.
- 1995
- Picasso's paintings, watercolors, drawings and sculpture: a comprehensive illustrated catalogue, 1885-1973. tome 2, Neoclassicism I, 1920-1921, San Francisco, 1995, no. 20-004.
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 2: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Decorative Arts and Other Works, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2019, cat. no. 1725, col. repr.
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: A One-Hundred-Year Odyssey (exh. cat.). Jingaoka, Megumi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of the Western Art, Tokyo; Yomiuri Shimbun; NHK; NHK Promotions, 2019, pp. 206-207, 369, cat. no. 117, col. repr.
- 2022
- Picasso and His Time: Masterpieces from Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin (exh. cat.). Murakami, Hiroya, ed. Tokyo, Kyodo News, 2022, pp. 106-107, cat. no. 33, col. repr.