Where Is Portrait of Gertrude Stein? Museum Location

Q: How many times did Gertrude Stein pose?

Stein posed for about 90 sittings. Picasso then wiped out the face entirely and repainted it from memory without her present, giving it the mask-like quality.

Q: What does Portrait of Gertrude Stein depict?

Pablo Picasso the American writer's face has a mask-like quality that anticipates Cubism. Stein reportedly said it didn't look like her.

Spanish painter Pablo Picasso painted this Portrait of Gertrude Stein in 1906 after about 90 sittings. The American writer's face has a mask-like quality that anticipates Cubism. Stein reportedly said it didn't look like her. Picasso replied: "It will."

The portrait marks Picasso's transition from his Rose Period to the radical experiments of 1907. The simplified features and heavy-lidded eyes show influence from Iberian sculpture. Stein bequeathed the portrait to the Metropolitan Museum in 1946.

Stein posed for about 90 sittings. Picasso then wiped out the face entirely and repainted it from memory without her present, giving it the mask-like quality.

When Stein said the portrait didn't resemble her, Picasso predicted she would grow to resemble it. The painting's influence on her public image proved him right.

Pablo Picasso the American writer's face has a mask-like quality that anticipates Cubism. Stein reportedly said it didn't look like her.

Portrait of Gertrude Stein

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Where to See It

The Artist

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About Portrait of Gertrude Stein

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