Gertrude Stein

"For me, it is I, and it is the only reproduction of me which is always I, for me." Thus wrote Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) in 1938. For Stein, this painting was proof of her irrevocable link to Picasso, whom she would come to regard as the greatest artist of her time. She saw the painting as a collaboration between two emerging giants: a twenty-four-year-old Spanish painter and a thirty-two-year-old American writer, two expatriates in Paris, each as yet unrecognized but both destined for greatness. Picasso had always been drawn to poets-his studio door was marked "Au rendez-vous des poètes"-but Gertrude's appeal was especially strong. As Fernande Olivier wrote, Picasso "was so attracted to Mlle Stein's physical presence that he suggested he paint her portrait, without even waiting to get to know her better." They met after Stein had acquired several of his pictures. Although Picasso usually worked quickly, there were many sittings throughout the winter of 1905-6. The figure remained the same, but the head was repainted at least three times, evolving from a full profile to the nearly frontal view of the final state.