''Woman's Head'' is a 1939

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

painting by

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 ...

. It is a depiction of

Dora Maar Henriette Theodora Markovitch (22 November 1907 – 16 July 1997), known as Dora Maar, was a French photographer, painter, and poet. A romantic partner of Pablo Picasso, Maar was depicted in a number of Picasso's paintings, including his ''Portr ...

, Picasso's companion at the time. Picasso donated the work to the people of Greece in recognition of their resistance against the Axis during the Second World War. ''Woman's Head'' was first exhibited in 1949, alongside other donated works, at the

Institut Français The Institut Français (French capitalization, Institut français; "French institute") is a French public industrial and commercial organization (EPIC). Started in 1907 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for promoting French, francophone as ...

in Athens. It was not shown again until an exhibition starting in 1980 at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

and was on continuous show from 2011 until the gallery closed for renovation in 2012. In January 2012 ''Woman's Head'' was stolen from the closed gallery, alongside a painting by

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

. It was recovered from a gorge near Athens in June 2021 and the alleged thief was arrested.

Painting

The painting is a cubist abstract depiction of the bust of a woman and was completed in 1939. The subject is the French photographer

, a companion of Picasso between 1936 and 1943. Maar was also depicted by Picasso in ''

The Weeping Woman ''The Weeping Woman'' (French: ''La Femme qui pleure'') is a series of oil on canvas paintings by Pablo Picasso, the last of which was created in late 1937. The paintings depict Dora Maar, Picasso's mistress and muse. ''The Weeping Woman'' paint ...

'' and '' Portrait of Dora Maar''. ''Woman's Head'' appears in a 1940 photograph taken by Maar at Picasso's studio in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, Picasso having moved from his Paris studio during the German occupation. After the war Picasso gave the work to the people of Greece in recognition of their country's fight against the Axis from 1940 to 1945. Picasso wrote on the back of the painting: "Pour le people Grec. Hommage de Picasso 14/10/1939" (French: "for the Greek people. A tribute by Picasso"). The work was first exhibited at the

in Athens in 1949. It appeared alongside works donated by other French artists, including

Henri 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 ...

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist ...

and

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

, amounting to 28 paintings, 6 drawings, 6 engravings, 4 sculptures and 2 books. The works were not exhibited again until they appeared at the

in Athens in 1980. After a long exhibition ''Woman's Head'' returned to storage until summer 2007 when it was exhibited as part of a celebration of the centenary of the Institut Français. The work was last shown as part of the exhibition ''In the Sanctuary of the National Gallery'', being on display from October 2011 until 2012 when the museum closed for extensive renovation and extension. In 2021 the work was valued at 16.5 million euros.

2012 theft

Piet Mondriaan - Stammer mill with summer house - 2691 - National Gallery of Athens

''Woman's Head'' was one of two paintings stolen during a 9 January 2012 theft from the closed National Gallery, that was referred to as the "theft of the century". Police allege that a thief entered the gallery via an unlocked balcony door whilst an accomplice kept watch outside (the man later arrested for the theft claimed to have worked alone). Police stated that the thief triggered a number of security alarms as a means of distracting the guard before taking ''Woman's Head'' and

’s ''Stammer Mill With Summer House''. A third painting, another Mondrian, was dropped by the thief during his escape. The thief took the paintings to a basement where he removed them from their frames with a pocket knife. A 16th-century sketch by Guglielmo Caccia was also lost during the raid, the arrested man claiming to have used it to wipe blood from his cut hand during the raid and then flushing it down a toilet. Police claimed that the thief had watched the Gallery carefully for six months prior to the theft. ''Woman's Head'' was the most significant of those stolen for its value and historical significance. In June 2021 Greek police arrested a man for the theft. He was said to be a painter working in construction but also at warehouses who was a Picasso enthusiast. He had been accused of shoplifting as a youth but had no art-related criminal record. Police had been tracking him for two months before his June 2021 arrest. Police alleged that the thief kept the artworks at his home before, suspecting that the police were following him, moving them to a warehouse and then a gorge. The Mondrian painting and ''Woman's Head'' were recovered together from the gorge, some south-east of Athens. Police held a news conference after the arrest at which the two paintings were shown to the press. The paintings were displayed on a thin ledge and ''Woman's Head'' slipped and fell to the ground, before being replaced. It appeared, superficially, to have suffered no damage from the incident. The Caccia sketch remains missing, though a similar sketch, attributed to Caccia, was shown in the online catalog of a Florence auction house in September 2019 but was removed from listing when its provenance was questioned.

References

{{Pablo Picasso, state=collapsed Paintings by Pablo Picasso 1939 paintings Portraits of women 20th-century portraits Recovered works of art Cubist paintings Stolen works of art