©Pablo Picasso - Woman with raven 1904

Picasso Woman with raven 1904
Woman with raven
1904 64x49cm Charcoal, pastel and watercolor
on paper, mounted on pressboard
Toledo Museum of Art

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From Toledo Museum of Art :
Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, p. 298:
Painted the year Pablo Picasso moved from his native Spain to Paris, Woman with a Crow is a portrait of Marguerite Luc, known as Margot. She was the stepdaughter of the owner of Le Lapin Agile (The Nimble Rabbit), a Montmartre café the artist frequented. Set in an indeterminate space, Margot seems removed from everyday life as she lovingly strokes her pet crow. Although she is recognizable, Picasso's expressive distortions of form have depersonalized and generalized her. Her gaunt face, wide, skeletal shoulders hunched over an extended neck; and attenuated limbs—especially her fingers—suggest an affinity with the bird she embraces. This elongation establishes a linear rhythm repeated throughout the composition.
The intense blue pastel background was applied after the drawing, overlapping it in several places and thus flattening the already shallow space. The lack of detail, the distortions of form, and the emotional effect of the blue result in an image of isolation, enhanced by the disquieting presence of the black bird.