Pablo Picasso
Woman with Outstretched Arms

Woman with Outstretched Arms

© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Woman with Outstretched Arms
Woman with Outstretched Arms
ArtistSpanish, 1881–1973
CultureSpanish
Titles
  • Woman with Outstretched Arms
  • Standing Woman
Date1961
PlaceFrance
MediumPainted iron
Dimensions70 5/16 × 61 9/16 × 28 9/16 in. (178.6 × 156.4 × 72.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Esther Florence Whinery Goodrich Foundation
Object number66.15
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Atrium Floor 1
Exposé

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Object Type
Description




As a child, Pablo Picasso amused his sister by making paper cutouts. Many decades later, his interest in this method of working was revived after seeing Henri Matisse’s colorful cut-paper compositions. The model for this large free-standing sculpture was translated into cut and folded sheet metal by Picasso’s collaborator Lionel Prejger. “Picasso seldom makes a drawing,” Prejger recounted, “but simply takes the paper in one hand and the scissors in the other, and begins to cut. Then the most important task, the folding begins: the folding is what produces the play of light in the finished sculpture.” 






Provenance[Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York]; given to MFAH, 1966.

Exhibition HistoryOtto Gerson Gallery, New York, Summer 1962.

“Sculptors of Our Time,” Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Washington, September 17–October 31, 1963.

"Contemporary Art from the Museum Collection with New Accessions," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 10–March 26, 1966.

“Picasso Exhibition,” Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, February 8–March 26, 1967.

“Fifth Guggenheim International Exhibition,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 20, 1967–February 4, 1968.

“Hemisfair,” Institute of Texas Culture, San Antonio, April 6–October 6, 1968.

"A Selection from the Permanent Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 18 – April 13, 1969.

“Picasso for Portland,” Portland Art Museum, Oregon, September 20–October 25, 1970.

"Picasso: The Suite Vollard Etchings and Other Works,” Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, March 3–April 15, 1979.

“A Century of Modern Sculpture 1882-1982,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, January 14, 1983–January 31, 1984.

“New Realities, The Glassell School of Art,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, December 1, 1987–January 10, 1988.

"Direction and Diversity: Twentieth Century Art in the Museum Collection,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 21–September 3, 1988.

“The Dark Mirror – Picasso: Photography and Painting,” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 16, 1997–February 1, 1998.

“Picasso: Sculptor/Painter,” Tate Gallery, London, February 16–May 8, 1994.

"Modern and Contemporary Art: Spotlight on the Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 7–August 27, 2000.

"Art at Midcentury: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 13–September 3, 2001.

“Picasso Black and White,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 5, 2012–January 23, 2013; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 24–May 27, 2013.

"Picasso's Sculpture," Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 9, 2015–February 7, 2016.

"Calder - Picasso," de young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, February 27–May 31, 2021; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, June 26–September 12, 2021; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 31, 2021–January 30, 2022.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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