Woman with a Crow

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Woman with a Crow

Artist Pablo Picasso (Spanish (active France), 1881-1973)

Date1904

Dimensionspainting: 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm)
framed: 34 1/2 × 28 × 2 3/4 in. (87.6 × 71.1 × 7 cm)

Mediumcharcoal, watercolor, and gouache on paper, mounted on pressboard

ClassificationDrawings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1936.4

Not on View

Label TextPainted the year Pablo Picasso moved from his native Spain to Paris, Woman with a Crow is a portrait of “Margot” Luc, the stepdaughter of the owner of a Montmartre café Picasso frequented. During these early years in Paris, Picasso was merely an undiscovered artist in his 20s, and he and his fellow Montmartre compatriots lived in poverty. Like other paintings of Picasso’s Blue Period—so called for their morose tone and the prevalence of the color blue in the works—Woman with a Crow portrays a downtrodden figure with an unhealthy pallor. The blue pastel background applied after the drawing further emphasizes the stony whiteness of the skin. Even though the crow was Margot’s domesticated pet, its symbolic associations with death overshadow the affectionate relationship. With unnaturally elongated fingers, Margot gently strokes her pet as she leans forward to kiss the bird’s head. Her closed eyes and gaunt face strengthen the implied affinity with death.Published ReferencesGeorge, W., La grande peinture contemporaine a la collection Paul Guillaume, Paris, n.d. (1929), pp. 115, 120, repr. p. 116.

Zervos, C., Pablo Picasso, I: Oeuvres de 1895 a 1905, Paris, 1932, no. 240, fig. 107.

Barr, Alfred H., Picasso, Forty Years of His Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1940, no. 25, repr. p. 36.

Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of Picasso, Mexico City, Sociedad de Arte Moderno, 1944, p. 44.

Picasso, Fifty Years of his Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1946, p. 284, repr. p. 30.

Daix, P. and G. Boudaille, Picasso, The Blue and Rose Periods, London, 1967, no. XI.10, p. 242, repr. p. 243.

Moravia, A. and P. Lecaldano, L'opera completa de Picasso blu e rose, Milan, 1968, no. 132, fig. XXV.

Reff, T., "Love and Death in Picasso's Early Work," Picasso, 1881-1973, London, 1973, pp. 22, 28, fig. 24.

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 125-126, pl. 285.

Gedo, Mary M., Picasso: Art as Autobiography, Chicago, 1980, p. 57, repr. p. 58.

Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1980, p. 57, repr. p. 60 (col.).

Daix, Pierre, "Wie Pablo Ruiz Picasso wurde," Art: Das Kunstmagazin, Nr. 9, Sept. 1981, repr. (col.) p. 38.

"Auktionen in Paris, Juni 1982," Weltkunst, vol. 52, no. 16, 15 Aug. 1982, p. 2196.

Andrews, Peter, "A View of Toledo," Connoisseur, vol. 212, no. 849, Nov. 1982, repr. (col.) p. 111.

Hoving, Thomas, "How Many Sublime Works of Art Are There in American Public Collections? 30," Connoisseur, vol. 214, no. 869, July 1984, p. 48, repr. (col.) p. 50.

Langdale, Cecily, Gwen John: With a Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings and a Selection of the Drawings, New Haven, 1987, p. 38, fig. 55.

Finch, Christopher, Twentieth-Century Watercolors, New York, 1988, p. 95, pl. 109, (col.).

Düchting, Hajo, Apollinaire zur Kunst, Texte und Kritiken 1905-1918, Koln, 1989, pl. 1, p. 65.

Chevalier, Denys, Picasso, the Blue and Rose Periods, New York, 1991, p. 46, repr. (col.).

Richardson, John, A Life of Picasso, New York, 1991, vol. I, pp. 302, 306, 356, repr. p. 302. (as "Woman with a Raven")

"Planets Around the Sun," The Independent, Sunday Review, Sept. 8, 1991, repr. p. 5 (col.).

Koch-Hillebrecht, Manfred, Museen in den USA: Gemalde, Munich, 1992, p. 233.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 154, repr. (col.).

McCully, Marilyn, ed., Picasso: The Early Years 1892-1906, Washington D.C., 1997, p. 43, fig. 32 [as Woman with a Raven].

Whetzle, Kate, "The Cover," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 277, no. 20, May 28, 1997, p. 1578, repr. on cover (col.).

Buchholz, Elke Linda, Pablo Picasso, Koln, 1999, p. 28, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide,, London, Scala, 2005, p. 49, repr. (col.).

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 298, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide,, London, Scala, 2009, p. 49, repr. (col.).

Arnason, H.H., et al., History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography, 6th ed., Upper Saddle river, Prentice Hall, 2010, repr. (col.) 161.

Godefroy, Cécile & Marilyn McCully, Malaga, Fundación Museo Picasso Málaga, 2010, Pablo Picasso: 43 Works, p. 255, fig.1 (col.) p. 254.

Nicholson, Debra, "Woman with a Crow," Stone Voices, Fall 2013, Issue no. 9, repr. (col.) p. 74.

Linares, Serge, Picasso et les ecrivains, Paris, Citadelles & Mazenod, 2013, p. 119, repr. (col.) p. 120.

Coquiot, G., Picasso: Bleu et rose, Paris, Musee d'Orsay, 2018, pp. 224, 370, fig. 190 (col.) p. 226.

Coquiot, G., Picasso: Bleu et rose Exhibition Album , Paris, Musee d'Orsay, 2018, repr. 28.

Exhibition HistoryParis, Galeries Serrurier, 1905, no. 21.

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 1932, no. 24, fig. IV.

Paris, Petit Palais, 1935.

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Contemporary Movements in European Painting: Surrealism, Abstract Art, Futurism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Fauves, Nov. 6-Dec. 11, 1938, no. 89.

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Picasso, Forty Years of His Art, 1940, no. 25.

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum, From Cezanne to Picasso, 1941, no. 40.

Mexico City, Sociedad de Arte Moderno, Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of Picasso, 1944.

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Picasso, Fifty Years of his Art, 1946.

Lyons, Musee des Beaux-Arts; Brussels, Brussels Palais des Beaux Arts, Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of Picasso, 1953, no. 10.

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Mostra de Pablo Picasso, 1953, no. 3.

New York, Museum of Modern Art; Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Picasso, 75th Anniversary Exhibition, 1957-1958, no. 15.

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective, 1980.

Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, Out of Sight, June 18-Aug. 29, 2010.

Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, European Expressionist and Cubist Works on Paper: 1900-1930, December 2, 2011-March 11, 2012 (University of Toledo Student Exhibition).

Paris, Musee d'Orsay, Picasso: Blue and Rose, Sept. 18, 2018-Jan. 6, 2019.

Comparative Referencessee also Sutton, Denys, "The Vitality of Pablo Picasso," Apollo, vol. 113, no. 235, Sept. 1981, p. 194, repr. fig. 2.

See also Clair, Jean, "Who Was the Fall Guy in the Sale of Picasso's 'Noces de Pierrette...,'" Art Newspaper, no. 59, May 1996, p. 27.

See also Moore, Susan, "The Quest for Perfection", Apollo, Dec. 2011, vol. 174, no. 593, p. 30, repr. (col.) p. 29.