Woman’s Head was made not long after Pablo Picasso spent the summer in Spain, where he painted numerous portraits of his companion Fernande Olivier (French, 1881–1966). At this time, the artist was already interested in the nonrepresentational shapes that would become central to Cubism, and the influence of African sculpture can be seen in this work. Its jutting and receding planes not only create volume but also suggest multiple points of view; yet, the sculpture maintains the basic shape of a human head, which is Fernande’s.

Label from Picasso: The Artist and His Models, November 5, 2016–February 19, 2017