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Shown from the hips up, a woman and a man stand side-by-side in front of a window and curtain in this vertical painting. The people and background are painted with mostly flat areas of vivid color, with their bodies and features outlined in black. The man and woman both have paper-white skin, brown hair, straight noses, and small mouths. They stand facing us so the woman’s shoulder slightly overlaps the man’s. The man’s right arm wraps around the woman to rest on the far side of her neck. She holds his left hand with her left hand, both to our right, and her other arm is tucked into her waist. The woman’s head tilts to our right, toward the man, while her shoulders slope slightly away to our left. She looks off to our right with dark eyes under thin brows. Her white shirt is the same color as her skin. A sea green-cloth drapes over her head and one shoulder, and her skirt is buttercup yellow. The man turns his head to look at the woman. His clothing is coral red. The couple stands in front of a mauve-purple curtain on our right and a window with baby-blue panes set within an ash-gray frame on our left. The artist signed the painting in brown in the lower right, “Picasso 23.”

Pablo Picasso

The Lovers, 1923

East Building, Ground Level — Gallery 103-B

Medium

oil on linen

Dimensions

overall: 130.2 x 97.2 cm (51 1/4 x 38 1/4 in.)

framed: 161.9 x 128.3 cm (63 3/4 x 50 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Chester Dale Collection

Accession Number

1963.10.192

Artists / Makers

Pablo Picasso (artist) Spanish, 1881 - 1973

Image Use

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Copyright

Inscription

lower right: Picasso 23

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by Paul Rosenberg;[1] sold to Miss Mary Hoyt Wiborg, New York, by 1927;[2] sold 12 February 1938 through (Valentine Gallery, New York, and possibly Paul P. Rosenberg et Cie., Paris) to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[3] bequest 1963 to NGA.

[1] It is unclear whether Rosenberg purchased painting as a dealer or for his private collection. When purchased directly from the artist, it is assumed here that the painting became part of his private collection. When involved in a later transaction, as here from Wiborg to Dale, it is assumed that Rosenberg was acting as a dealer.

[2] Miss Wiborg lent painting to the Reinhardt Gallery's 1927 exhibition Loan Exhibition of Paintings from El Greco and Rembrandt to Cezanne and Matisse.

[3] Valentine Gallery's receipt to Mr. and Mrs. Dale includes the comment "on order from abroad" and also indicates that a commission was paid, but does not name Rosenberg. Rosenberg is named in other, slightly conflicting, information from the Dale Papers that lists the provenance one time as "...later Miss Wiborg sold it to the Chester Dale Collection through Paul Rosenberg" and another as "Mr. Dale bought the picture from the collection of Miss Mary Hoyt Wiborg through Valentine Dudensing [owner of Valentine Gallery]". It seems possible that Miss Wiborg, having originally purchased the painting from Rosenberg, returned it there from whence it was sold to Dale through Valentine.

Associated Names

Dale, Chester
Rosenberg & Co., Paul P.
Rosenberg, Paul
Valentine Gallery
Wiborg, Mary Hoyt, Miss

Exhibition History

1927: Loan Exhibition of Paintings from El Greco and Rembrandt to Cezanne and Matisse, Reinhardt Galleries, New York, 1927, no. 25, repro.

1929: Harvard Society of Contemporary Art, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1929.

1930: Painting in Paris, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1930, no. 72A.

1931: Pablo R. Picasso. An Exhibition of Paintings, Demotte Inc., New York, 1931, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1932: Exposition Picasso, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1932, no. 133.

1943: Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1943-1952 (extended loan).

1952: Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1952, no. 55, repro.

1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1978: Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978-1979, no. 29, repro.

1980: Picasso: The Saltimbanques, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, no. 69.

2010: From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1932: Zervos, Christian. Pablo Picasso. 33 vols. Paris, 1932-1978: 5(1952): no. 14, pl. 8.

1943: Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1943:, color frontispiece.

1952: Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): 55, repro.

1960: Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): 57, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 101.

1965: Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 76, repro.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 90, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 266, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 608, no. 944, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 307, repro.

1997: Gebhardt, Volker. Kunstgeschichte Malerei. 1997: no. 221, repro.

1998: Román, Lydia Vélez. Sigamos, Lecturas Literarias y Culturales. 1998: 46, repro.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 417, no. 349, color repro.