Explore the Background of this artwork.
Sylvette David was the daughter of a Parisian art dealer who, during the summer of 1953, met 73-year-old Picasso at his pottery studio located on Rue du Fournas in Vallauris. Finding her appearance appealing, Picasso asked her to be his model and subsequently created 60 works inspired by her over the course of two months (between April and June), including drawings, paintings and small metal sculptures. This was the most concentrated series of works that Picasso produced of a model in his lifetime. Life magazine described this era as Picasso's "Ponytail Period". Sylvette possessed the classic features that Picasso admired with blonde hair tied in a high ponytail. Within this series of artworks, Picasso depicted his model in numerous styles, including both naturalistic and cubist images.In 1957, Picasso met Carl Nesjar and was impressed with a process that he had invented for producing large concrete sculptures. They began to collaborate on producing a series of artworks, which began with Nesjar transferring Picasso's designs onto three murals on a government building in Oslo. The managing director of the Bijenkorf department store, Van der Wal, who was a member of the Urban Embellishment Committee, was impressed and wanted to install a similar artwork in Rotterdam. Initially, the committee proposed the installation of a 12 metre high sculpture by Picasso in Kralingse Hout, a greenbelt area northeast of Rotterdam, but it was withdrawn due to negative public opinion. Another artwork proposed by Picasso was again rejected in 1967, three years before the current sculpture was erected in 1970.
Rotterdam Sylvette David Oslo Vallauris Carl Nesjar Life cubist