Pablo Picasso
1881-1973 | Spanish

Nu tenant un miroir
(Nude holding a mirror)

Signed "Picasso" (lower right)
Pen and ink on paper

Pablo Picasso's Rose Period is among the most iconic bodies of work in art history. This beautiful drawing, entitled Nu tenant un miroir, exemplifies the refined elegance and simplicity that characterized this pivotal period and laid the foundation for his visionary career. Picasso's Rose Period works are highly rare and coveted by collectors, making this ink drawing an extraordinary treasure of modern art.

Created in 1906, Nu tenant un miroir captures the artist's companion Fernande Olivier with remarkable minimalism, demonstrating Picasso's extraordinary ability to convey form and emotion through a few precise, self-assured gestures. This drawing served as the foundation for Picasso's monumental oil painting, La Toilette, now in the permanent collection of the Buffalo AKG Museum. In the drawing, Picasso synthesizes the dual vision of Fernande's personality—combining the nude figure and the mirror holder into one person, which he would later split in two in the final painting.

Nu tenant un miroir also reveals Picasso's growing interest in classical antiquity, with unmistakable references to Roman and Egyptian artistic traditions. The figure exists in an undefined space, creating a sense of timelessness and eternity. Through masterful restraint, Picasso achieves a composition that is simultaneously ancient and thoroughly modern, balancing naturalistic representation with elements of abstraction.

The summer of 1906 marked a transformative period in Picasso's artistic development. Having relocated from his native Spain to Paris in 1904, Picasso and Fernande temporarily retreated to the remote Spanish village of Gósol in the Pyrenees. This rural sojourn provided Picasso with the solitude and focus to refine his artistic direction, resulting in works of remarkable clarity and purpose such as this one.

Born in 1881 in Málaga, Spain, Picasso spent his childhood studying drawing and painting under his father, Jose Ruíz, who taught at the local art school. Picasso spent a year at the Academy of Arts in Madrid before traveling to Paris in 1900. Landing in the epicenter of the European art world, Picasso began to mingle in the company of other artists, quickly establishing himself as a critical figure in the thriving Parisian art scene. Works from his pivotal Rose Period are especially prized by collectors and institutions for their historical significance and aesthetic sophistication. Comparable drawings from this critical year can be found in prestigious collections worldwide, including the Musée Picasso in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Created 1906

Canvas: 9 3/4" high x 6 1/2" wide (24.77 x 16.51 cm)
Framed: 21 1/2" high x 17 3/8" wide x 1 3/4" deep (54.61 x 44.01 x 4.45 cm)

Provenance:
Gustave & Leon Bollag Collection, Zurich
Sale, Galerie Bollag, Zurich, 3rd April 1925, lot 167
Constance Charlotte Bailward, United Kingdom, acquired during the 1920s
Thence by descent
Private Collection, California

Literature:
Pierre Daix, Picasso 1900-1906: Catalogue raisonne l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1966, no. XV.29, illustrated p. 300
Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Supplement aux annees de 1903-1906, Paris, 1970, vol. XXII, no. 430, illustrated p. 151
Alberto Moravia, L'opera completa di Picasso blu e rosa, Milano, 1979, no. 270A, illustrated p. 109
Joseph Palau i Fabre, Picasso Vivo (1881-1907), Barcelona, 1980, no. 1242, illustrated p. 448
Le miroir noir, Picasso, sources photographiques 1900-1928 (exhibition catalogue), Musée Picasso, Paris, 1997, fig. 45, illustrated p. 58