"Ma Jolie"
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973
Paris, winter 1911-12
An oil on canvas in which Picasso fragments a sitter and her belongings into interlocking geometric planes and printed letters, attempting to convey multiple viewpoints and the idea of 'Ma Jolie' (a popular song/companion) rather than a single, fixed likeness.
You first notice a subdued brown-gray mosaic of angled facets and thin black contours, where the stencil-like words 'MA JOLIE' and ghostly suggestions of a guitar, a hand, and a face surface like clues in a visual puzzle.
A masterwork of Analytic Cubism (1911–12), it helped recast painting by collapsing figure and object into abstract planes, introducing text into picture space and pointing toward the language of modern abstraction.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
39 3/8 x 25 3/4" (100 x 64.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest (by exchange)
Accession
176.1945
Palette
Exhibitions
