In this episode, we’ll be visiting Cubist Head (Portrait of Fernande) by Pablo Picasso at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Welcome to Art, Culture & Books with me, Anthony King.
Pablo Picasso Oil on canvas Cubist head (portrait of Fernande) was painted around 1909-10. The Museum tells us that;
“The sitter of this painting was almost certainly Fernande Olivier, with whom Picasso began a relationship in 1904 and painted many times. Fernande (born Amélie Lang) had a turbulent childhood and she ran away from home as a teenager. She married but left her abusive husband before the age of nineteen, changing her name to Fernande Bellevallée and then to Olivier to avoid detection. Fernande modelled for artists in Montmartre and met Picasso at the famous artists’ residence, the Bateau-Lavoir”.
By Anthony King (c)