Woman with Cat 1900

Pablo Picasso created this artwork, Woman with Cat, using pastel on paper. The painting appears to offer a candid glimpse into the private sphere, but we should ask ourselves how social and cultural forces shape the presentation of such apparently intimate moments. The woman’s posture, the style of her dress, and the presence of a framed portrait on the wall all speak to early twentieth-century bourgeois culture. In the late 19th century, there was an increased public interest in recording domestic life through painting and photography. At the same time, the institutions of art – galleries, museums, and art schools – were becoming more focused on creating a market for such imagery. Does this pastel participate in or critique these trends? To better understand the work, we can consult social histories of the period, fashion magazines, and archival sources on the art market. These will help us to explore how the image reflects the cultural values and social structures of its time.