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The Red Armchair by Pablo Picasso

The Red Armchair

Pablo Picasso · 1931

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“This striking portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter features a unique, multi-perspective face and experimental use of industrial paint, offering a glimpse into a hidden romance and artistic innovation.”

ABOUT THIS WORK

A woman with a dramatically distorted face, composed of both frontal and profile views, sits in a vibrant red armchair. Her body is a riot of curves and angles, rendered in bold, flat planes of color. This painting, made in December 1931, depicts Marie-Thérèse Walter, a French model with whom the artist was romantically involved. The unconventional portrayal of her face, simultaneously showing two perspectives, might reflect the complexity of their hidden relationship. Look closely at the varied textures: the rough, yellow background contrasts with the smoother black lines of the figure, a result of the artist's experimental use of Ripolin, an industrial house paint, mixed with traditional oils. This innovative approach to materials creates a dynamic surface that enhances the painting's striking visual impact.

DETAILS
Artist
Pablo Picasso
Date
1931
Medium
Oil and Ripolin on panel
Location
Art Institute of Chicago
Dimensions
131.1 × 98.7 cm (51 5/8 × 38 7/8 in.)
Collection
Modern Art
Culture
Spain
Credit line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Saidenberg
ART MOVEMENTS
CubismPost-ImpressionismSurrealism
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What to Notice

Five details hide in plain sight. Pick one and we’ll show you exactly where to look.

The Red Armchair

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01

Two views, one face

Look at the pale face, where a frontal eye and mouth meet a profile nose and chin. Picasso merges both views into a single head.

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02

Green hat as profile

The green hat curls around the face and bends into a hooked shape at right, close to the profile of the nose. The green form can be read as hat, hair and profile at once, though that double reading is an interpretation.

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03

Curling arm and body

A brown spiral sweeps down from the shoulder and wraps around a green circle at the center. The body turns into a swirl of curves, which may suggest a bosom and folded arms.

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04

Belt buckle

The black square buckle at the waist is a small hard-edged anchor in a body made of rounded shapes. Its pale outline makes it stand out.

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05

Black contour lines

Trace the thick black outlines around each shape. They separate the flat areas of color and give the figure a bold, graphic look.

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THE ARTIST

Pablo Picasso

1881–1973 · Spain

Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter who co-founded Cubism, revolutionized 20th-century art with a career spanning over 76 years.

Read Picasso’s full story
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Further Works by Picasso

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The Old Guitarist The Old Guitarist 1903 · Art Institute of Chicago Woman with a Helmet of Hair Woman with a Helmet of Hair 1904 · Art Institute of Chicago Half-Length Female Nude Half-Length Female Nude 1906 · Art Institute of Chicago Nude with a Pitcher Nude with a Pitcher 1906 · Art Institute of Chicago Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler 1910 · Art Institute of Chicago Man with a Pipe Man with a Pipe 1915 · Art Institute of Chicago Abstraction: Background with Blue Cloudy Sky Abstraction: Background with Blue Cloudy Sky 1930 · Art Institute of Chicago Portrait of Sylvette David Portrait of Sylvette David 1954 · Art Institute of Chicago
EXPLORE THE MOVEMENT

More from Post-Impressionism

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Olive Trees Olive Trees van Gogh · 1853 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art Gustave Boyer (b. 1840) in a Straw Hat Gustave Boyer (b. 1840) in a Straw Hat Cézanne · 1870 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Seine at Pont de Grenelle The Seine at Pont de Grenelle Gauguin · 1875 · Wallraf–Richartz Museum Albert (René) Grenier (1858–1925) Albert (René) Grenier (1858–1925) de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1887 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
KEEP EXPLORING

More works to explore

Beyond Picasso and Post-Impressionism: works from the same years, and from the other movements The Red Armchair belongs to.

The Eye Same movement · Surrealism The Eye René Magritte · 1932 · Art Institute of Chicago Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray Same era · 1910s–1940s Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray Piet Mondrian · 1921 · Art Institute of Chicago Untitled (Desert Landscape) Same movement · Surrealism Untitled (Desert Landscape) Salvador Dalí · 1934 · Art Institute of Chicago Nude Same era · 1910s–1940s Nude Ivan Puni · 1931 · Art Institute of Chicago Dada Gauguin Same movement · Surrealism Dada Gauguin Max Ernst · 1920 · Art Institute of Chicago American Gothic Same era · 1910s–1940s American Gothic Okada Saburosuke · 1930 · Art Institute of Chicago Death in the Garden (Legend) Same movement · Surrealism Death in the Garden (Legend) Paul Klee · 1919 · Art Institute of Chicago Straße mit Passanten bei Nachtbeleuchtung Same era · 1910s–1940s Straße mit Passanten bei Nachtbeleuchtung Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1927 · Museum Frieder Burda
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