How does La Gommeuse elucidate its Description?
La Gommeuse is a nude portrait of a cabaret performer. The word "gommeuse" was a term used to describe cafe concert singers who were dressed in a suggestive manner. This subject matter reflects the pleasures of the Parisian nightlife, in which Picasso and his friend, Pere Mañach were immersed. The identity of the model is unknown, but she is unabashed by her nakedness and poses with a striking directness, as though with a sense of defiance.Picasso painted La Gommeuse in his studio on Boulevard de Clichy. A painting on the wall of the studio can be seen behind the woman, which appears to be a large, blue canvas depicting a figure wearing a dress and red stockings. It is similar to another painting that Picasso had created earlier in 1901, which was titled Nude with red stockings.The model in this painting is displayed in the foreground to the left, her body outlined against the flat background to give emphasis to her figure. Her body is depicted using tones of green and ochre. The central theme of the image is of a woman who is both a siren and a figure of loneliness. Her figure is slumped, giving an impression of physical exhaustion and her face offers a sad, contemplative expression. Picasso historian Marilyn McCully commented that, "The depictions of syphilitic prostitutes and poverty-stricken mothers in his Blue Period of late 1901-1902 was in many ways anticipated in La Gommeuse and works related to it".
nude  Blue Period Blue Period Boulevard de Clichy