In 1918, Pablo Picasso married Olga Khokhlova, one of the dancers at Serge de Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet. At that time, the Parade ballet was being prepared with the participation of a number of artists; Jean Cocteau was in charge of the theme, the music was by Erik Satie, choreography by Léonide Massine, and Picasso was in charge of the sets and costumes.
The artist painted many portraits of Olga, then later their son Paulo, born in 1921. In contrast to the cubist still lifes of the same period, these portraits surprised contemporaries with their classical almost Ingres-like facture. Indeed, the stiffness of the lines, the oval of the face, the curve of the shoulders, hands and eyes, are all reminiscent of Ingres. Once again, Picasso confronts his great master, as well as Renoir, who both inspired the first works of his blue and pink periods. Here, you can see Olga reading a little book at the centre of the composition. Her contemplation is similar to representations of the Virgin and Child reading from the Italian Renaissance.