This work is a unique proof gifted to Geneviève Laporte (1926-2012), Picasso's lover during the 1950s. In 1951, Picasso and Laporte began an affair which lasted for two years and during which time the artist presented her with a number of his works. A poet and writer herself, Laporte published her book 'Sunshine at Midnight: Memories of Picasso and Cocteau' in 1973.

While Pablo Picasso never claimed to be a Surrealist, his earlier Cubist works certainly laid the groundwork for such a movement to exist. By the time André Breton's 'Surrealist Manifesto' was published in 1924, Picasso was creating art with a similar surrealist style. The present work demonstrates Picasso's ceaseless desire to present an alternative to realism. The artist challenges our perception of portraiture and reality by capturing the woman's face in a simultaneous profile and frontal-facing perspective. As the viewer, our eyes delight in the challenge to understand this surreal vision of a multifaceted woman, made up of elegant curving, intersecting lines.

Lithograph, 1925, on Japanese Imperial paper, signed lower right, an artist's proof gifted directly to Genevieve Laporte from Picasso's private collection, aside from the edition of one hundred, printed by Engelmann, Paris, published by D.H. Kahnweiler, Galerie Simon, Paris, image: 12.7 x 11.8 cm. (5 x 4.6 in.), sheet: 28 x 22.5 cm. (11 x 8.9 in.)

Bloch 73; Baer 240; Mourlot XX; Cramer Books 14