Woman with Outstretched Arms
Artist
Pablo Picasso(Spanish, 1881–1973)Spanish, 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
Explore Further
Department
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Type
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.
Published References Keck, Andrew S. Sculptors of Our Time. Washington D.C.: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, 1963. Exhibition catalog, illus. cover, cat. no. 31. Metro, no. 7 (1966): illus. cover, inside cover. MFAH Newsletter, (September 1966). Rhode Island School of Design Alumni Bulletin, (March 1967): 21-25. Penrose, Roland. The Sculpture of Picasso. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1967. Portland Art Museum. Picasso for Portland. Portland: The Portland Art Museum, 1970. Exhibition catalog, no. 53. Spies, Werner. Sculpture by Picasso. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1971. Carmean, E. A., Jr. “Picasso in the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,” MFAH Bulletin, (Summer 1974): 13, illus. p. 12. Agee, William C. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: A Guide to the Collection. Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, 1981, p. 166, illus. p. 166. Fairweather, Sally. Picasso’s Concrete Sculpture. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1984. Greene, Alison de Lima. “Twentieth-Century Art in the Museum Collection: Direction and Diversity,” MFAH Bulletin, vol. XI, no. 3, (Summer 1988): 40, illus. p. 41. Cowling, Elizabeth, and John Golding. Picasso: Sculptor/Painter. London: The Tate Gallery, 1994. Exhibition catalog, p. 284, illus. p. 167. Baldassari, Anne. Picasso and Photography: The Dark Mirror. Paris: Flammarion, 1997. Landay, Janet. MFAH Visitor Guide. Houston and London: Museum of Fine Arts and Scala Publishers Ltd, 2000, p. 334, illus. p. 334. Gimenez, Carmen, et. al. Picasso Black and White. Munich: DelMonico Books, 2012. Exhibition catalog, illus. pl. 106.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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