Pablo Picasso
Spanish, active France, 1881–1973
The Red Armchair
INV-5357
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, active France, 1881–1973December 16, 1931
The Red Armchair
Pablo Picasso Spanish, active France, 1881–1973 →CubismpaintingModern Art Highlights
Date
December 16, 1931
Medium
Oil and Ripolin on panel
Dimensions
131.1 × 98.7 cm (51 5/8 × 38 7/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Saidenberg
In December 1931 Pablo Picasso began a series of paintings of Marie-Thérèse Walter, a French model with whom he was romantically involved while married to his first wife, Olga Khokhlova. Perhaps acknowledging their double life, Picasso invented a new motif–a face encompassing both frontal and profile views. A constant innovator, Picasso experimented with materials as well as with form and style. The Red Armchair demonstrates the artist's inventive use of Ripolin, an industrial house paint. Mixing it with oil paint he produced various surfaces, from the rough, yellow background to the almost brushless finish of the black lines.
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