A pastel rendering of a woman in 3/4 view from the waist up. She wears a voluminous brown coat and a large blue hat. While some areas of color are blended, elsewhere the lines of the artist's marks are visible.

Young Woman with a Hat

1900

Pablo Picasso Spanish, 1881-1973

Spain

The subject of this portrait is likely Germaine Gargallo (1880–1948). When she refused the marriage proposal of Picasso’s friend and roommate, Carles Casagemas (1880–1901), tragedy followed. In a drunken rage, Casagemas shot Gargallo in the head (grazing her temple), and then turned the gun on himself. His death and Picasso’s resulting grief led, in part, to the artist’s Blue Period, which explored themes of despair and isolation.

Pastel, with stumping and incising, over touches of charcoal, on gray millboard, laid down on tan cardboard, fixed

Prints and Drawings