Inspired by his sculptural portrait of Marie-Thérèse, this woman’s head looks out serenely on the world with the countenance of a veritable goddess of fertility. We know that Picasso owned two replicas of the Venus of Lespugue (mammoth tusk ivory, Haute-Garonne, c. 21000 BC), an ancient fertility symbol whose curves evoke the female form. Facial features resembling the genital organs are also a recurrent theme in African art. The bulges and swellings that make up the face of this sculpture are reminiscent of those found on a Guinean mask of the goddess Nimba owned by Picasso.

Musée national Picasso-Paris
Donated by the Picasso estate, 1979.  MP 302
© Succession Picasso  2017
Localisation : Paris, musée Picasso. Dation Pablo Picasso, 1979. 
Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée Picasso de Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau