P a b l o P i c a s s o
{ P o r t r a i t o f M a d a m e C a n a l s }
O i l o n c a n v a s
( 1 9 0 5 )
Click here for larger scan
During his early years in
Paris, Picasso gradually
mastered the French language
and made many French
friends; one of the earliest was
the poet Max Jacob, with
whom he shared a room, and
some very hard times, as early
as the winter of 1902-03. But
he also remained close to his
fellow-Spaniards in the French
capital, among them the
Catalan artist Ricardo Canals,
now mainly remembered as
the man who taught Picasso
etching - a not insignificant
distinction in view of Picasso's
later pre-eminence in this art.
Canals's wife was a beautiful
Italian, but Picasso portrays
her here in traditional Spanish
fashion, as an aloof but
enticing figure in a mantilla;
the treatment of the material is
masterly, ranging from
meticulous detail to very
cursory, Gainshorough-like
passages towards the bottom.
Picasso's inability to rest on his
laurels appears in the contrast
between this lovely hut
conventional work and the
'crude' self-portrait painted
the following year (below).
Original Painting: Musée Picasso, Barcelona
Back to Gallery
Source: Life and Works of Picasso
Further Reading: Biography I
Further Reading: Life of Picasso
Further Reading: Pablo Picasso & Jean Cocteau
{ BIOG. }
{ LIFE OF }
{ BIOG. IV }
{ PICASSO/COCTEAU }
{ LE TESTAMENT D'ORPHEE }
{ DORA MAAR }
{ GALLERY }
{ BOOKS }
{ CARDS }
{ PRINTS }
{ GEORGES AURIC }
{ JEAN COCTEAU }
{ JEAN MARAIS }
{ LEE MILLER }
{ INDEX } { SEARCH THIS SITE }
{ TOP OF PAGE }
© 2008 by the appropriate owners of the included material
