In Portrait of Suzanne Bloch, how is the Background discussed?
A luminary in the Parisian sets frequented by Picasso at the beginning of the 20th century, Suzanne Bloch was a Wagnerian singer and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch. She was introduced to the Spanish artist by the French poet Max Jacob, in 1904, and she sat for a portrait by Picasso in his Bateau-Lavoir studio at 13 rue Ravignan in Paris, between the late spring and early summer of that year. A pen and ink sketch heightened with gouache, and signed and dated by Picasso, preceded the oil painting; it is now conserved at the Neubury Coray collection, in Ascona, Switzerland.
Bateau-Lavoir Ascona Wagner gouache sketch Suzanne Bloch Spanish Switzerland Paris pen and ink Max Jacob Picasso portrait Wagnerian