In 1932, just after turning fifty, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) began a year of furious work to prove his enduring capabilities as a modern master. Newly inspired by his mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Picasso depicted her over and over again in various styles and mediums over the course of the year, from monumental, colorful canvases to voluptuous, sculpted busts and works on paper such as in the grisaille Femme étendue [Reclining Woman].

In soft washes of black and gray, Marie-Thérèse reclines while staring out a window onto a densely wooded area. The contours of her body are rendered with varying opacities of ink, casting a dark shadow across her face, while her legs are bathed in light. Pushed close to the edge of the surface, she sits on a diamond-patterned couch as she gazes out at the scenery, which Picasso has suggestively composed with little detail, using quick brushstrokes to convey hazy trees and unkempt grass.

Captivated by Walter’s strong classical features and sensuous curves, his young muse ushered in a new, voluptuous aesthetic in the artist’s oeuvre. Picasso was particularly interested in her prominent, Grecian nose, which he frequently emphasized in his paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Representing his young muse in profile, here he casts Marie Thérèse as a type of modern Venus, recalling the archetypal nudes of art history that date back to the Renaissance and classical antiquity.