Femme A La Montre

The woman on my painting is enjoying Pablo Picasso’s 1932 painting 'Femme à la montre'. It depicts his young mistress and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter. Picasso painted it during what art historians call his annus mirabilis or year of wonders. Marie-Thérèse inspired a flood of bright, curvilinear, and euphoric masterpieces.

Unlike earlier, more passive reclining nudes, Marie-Thérèse is portrayed upright, clothed, and statuesque. Her calm, commanding presence and luminous, marble-like head transform her into a modern-day goddess or idol ruling over the artist.

The wristwatch worn by Marie-Thérèse is a traditional vanitas symbol a reminder of the passage of time, youth, and the transience of earthly beauty. Some art historians also note that the watch hands symbolically point to a specific frozen moment in time.

The painting was famously owned for decades by art patron Emily Fisher Landau. When it went to auction at Sotheby's, it sold in November 2023 for $139.4 million, becoming one of the most expensive Picasso works ever sold.

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