Magnet / Picasso / Portrait of a woman with a pompom hat / 54 x 79 mm

In the winter of 1961/62 Picasso drew a series of variations on the theme of the woman with a hat. Zervos is reproduced along with ten other versions, all dated January 12 or later, all painted in the same technique.

Two drawings dated as of January 14 come closest to the one shown here. In contrast to the other pictures in the series, the heads are shown frontally and without multifaceted allusions. The asymmetrical treatment of the eyes is striking: the left eye seems to stare lifelessly into space, while the right eye makes a "naturalistic" impression. A similar depiction of the eyes can be observed in one of Picasso's late paintings.

The head of a woman with a hat probably represents Jacqueline, whom Picasso married on March 2, 1961 and with whom he soon moved into the Villa Notre-Dame-de-Vie in Mougins.