Fernande with a Black Mantilla (1905) was one the first portraits of Fernande painted in a realistic manner which couldn’t be said about most of Picasso’s next works, since he never ceased to experiment. A famous painting Girl on the Ball, a masterpiece of the Rose Period, owed its appearance to Fernande. Also with Fernande Picasso entered the African Period and the period of Cubism applying Cezanne’s principles of interpreting the form to painting the human figure.
Fernande Olivier
In 1904, in the waning years of the Blue Period, Picasso had a tough time after his friend, Carlos Casagemas, had committed suicide. The artist changed his environment radically – he moved to Paris and settled down in one of poor quarters of the city among street actors and itinerant circus performers. There was a tall, swarthy, aristocratic looking maid who lived nearby. The artist invited the girl to pose for him, and soon she became his beloved.Fernande with a Black Mantilla (1905) was one the first portraits of Fernande painted in a realistic manner which couldn’t be said about most of Picasso’s next works, since he never ceased to experiment. A famous painting Girl on the Ball, a masterpiece of the Rose Period, owed its appearance to Fernande. Also with Fernande Picasso entered the African Period and the period of Cubism applying Cezanne’s principles of interpreting the form to painting the human figure.
