Buste de femme.Courtesy of Smith & Partners.
“This picture is one of the best-known of Picasso’s series of images of Dora Maar. The electric red lends an intensity that heightens the colors of Picasso’s muse’s face and clothing. The yellows, blues, and greens thrust themselves into a bold relief through their contrast with the near-monochrome background. It is a joyful rendition that was created at the height of the artists’ relationship. Anecdotally,
Buste De Femme (Femme à la résille) was one of the paintings with which Picasso was unable to part during his lifetime, only changing hands after his death, whereby it was inherited by his granddaughter, Marina.”