''Ma Jolie'' is an oil on canvas painting by Spanish artist

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, which is located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, US. Completed in 1914, its fractured depiction of everyday objects is an example of

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

. It is not to be confused with the 1912 Picasso of the same name, which is now in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York.

Description

Picasso used a limited palette to draw attention to the overlapping, fragmented shapes of common objects including musical instruments, sheet music, glasses, a bottle, and a cigarette. Rather than attempt to copy the world in paint, Picasso used the canvas to experiment with texture and form, fracturing the objects into geometric shapes and depicting them from multiple angles. He also displayed great creativity in the application of the paint, using a comb to create the lines on the sheet music and the recorder's wood grain.

Background information

''Ma Jolie'' ("My Pretty One") was both a popular French song and the nickname of Picasso's lover, Eva Gouel (born Marcelle Humbert). Sheet music for the song can be seen in the background of the painting. This artwork represents Picasso's return to the oil paint medium after a period of experimentation with collage. Instead of using ready-made objects and materials to create textural effects, he used paint to imitate them, essentially reversing his experiments with collage. Using his new knowledge of texture to apply the syntax of collage to a painting, he raised questions about the very nature of the medium.

Acquisition history

Picasso's dealer, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler sold ''Ma Jolie'' to

Katherine Dreier Katherine Sophie Dreier (September 10, 1877 – March 29, 1952) was an American artist, lecturer, patron of the arts, and social reformer. Dreier developed an interest in art at a young age and was afforded the opportunity of studying art in the ...

, founder and president of the Société Anonymne, in 1922. Theodore Schempp of New York City acquired it in 1942, possibly from Karl Nierendorf. In 1944, the

Herron School of Art Herron School of Art and Design, officially IU Herron School of Art and Design, is a public art school at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a professional art school and has been accredite ...

debated purchasing it for $3,800, a suggestion which

Booth Tarkington Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitze ...

, chairman of the Fine Arts Committee, laughed out of the room. Tarkington later regretted his display, mockingly justifying that it was "rather a distinction ''not'' to have ''either'' a

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

or a Picasso." Devoted patron

Caroline Marmon Fesler Caroline Marmon Fesler (1878 – December 28, 1960) was an American art and music patron, cultural philanthropist, and fine-art collector. Her contributions to the Indianapolis, Indiana, arts community included financial support and gifts of fine ar ...

, who missed the meeting due to illness, purchased the painting on her own and displayed it in the Herron. Upon her death in 1961, it was bequeathed to the IMA. It is currently on display in the William L. and Jane H. Fortune Gallery and has the acquisition number 61.36.

References

External links

IMA's page
{{IMAart 1914 paintings Paintings by Pablo Picasso Paintings in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art Musical instruments in art Still life paintings