Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973

While still a struggling young artist in the Montmartre district of Paris, Pablo Picasso frequented a café called Le Lapin Agile (the Nimble Rabbit). There he befriended the owner and his family, including stepdaughter Marguerite Luc, known as Margot, who had a tame crow. In this portrait, Picasso eliminates all detail of setting, focusing attention on Margot and the vaguely menacing black mass of the bird. Hunched over her pet, she appears emotionally and psychologically isolated. Her gaunt features, skeletal frame, and elongated fingers are typical of Picasso’s melancholy observations of the fringe dwellers of bohemian Montmartre, which he produced between 1901 and 1904. This period is referred to as his Blue Period for his predominant use of that color. However the touches of pink tones mark Woman with a Crow as a transitional work leading to his lighter, less gloomy Rose Period.

Charcoal, pastel, and watercolor on paper, 1904
Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1936.4
© 2007 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York