Picasso The Cubist Portraits of Fernande Olivier

"Between spring and winter 1909, Picasso executed more than sixty portraits of his companion, Fernande Olivier. In their tenacious pursuit of a single subject, these works reveal a level of experimentation that stands out in the history of portraiture. Even more significant, the Fernande series coincided with the invention of cubism. Published to accompany a major exhibition originating at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, this richly illustrated volume illuminates Picasso's radical reformulation of human physiognomy." "Containing eighty-two color illustrations and sixty-eight duo-tones, the catalogue explores the Fernande portraits and related works as a single oeuvre culminating in the magnificent Head of a Woman (Fernande) - one of Picasso's rare pre-1912 excursions into sculpture. By so doing, it allows us to examine Picasso's process in an unprecedented fashion. What emerges is a new picture of the artist developing a single portrait motif with obsessive repetition and struggling to resolve artistic problems during a time of crisis in his work. Also included are studio photographs that offer further insight into the conceptual nature of the artist's process. The next na