Skip to Main Content

Head (Tête)

1926
(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain
oil on canvas
Unframed: 21.6 x 14 cm (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.112
© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Zervos VII, 41
Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

Picasso was never an official member of the Surrealist movement, but he participated in their exhibitions; their leader André Breton wrote, “We proudly claim him as one of us.”

Description

This head is filled with multiple profiles and perspectives, most notably seen in the opposing profiles formed by the red and tan forms in the center, each with its own eye. A third eye appears on the left side of the face. The continuous line that flows through the painting reflects the semiautomatic drawing technique Picasso developed around 1924, a creative method that influenced the Surrealists. The combination of distinctly different profiles and displaced eyes may also reflect the influence of tribal art of the Pacific Islands greatly admired by Picasso and the Surrealists. While the woman’s features resemble those of Picasso’s mistress, Marie Thérèse Walter, she may not have been the model since they reportedly did not meet until January 1927.
Head (Tête)

Head (Tête)

1926

Pablo Picasso

(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain

See Also

Visually Similar Artworks

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.