The day I met Marie-Thérèse I realized that I had before me what I had always been dreaming about.
— Pablo Picasso
We are pleased to present Pablo Picasso's monumental La Dormeuse, which will be sold as the centerpiece of Phillips' 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London this March. This extraordinary large-scale portrait of Picasso's muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, was executed in 1932 and remained in Picasso's own collection until the end of his life, when it was inherited by his widow, Jacqueline Roque, and subsequently by her daughter.
As described by curator and art historian Charles Stuckey, La Dormeuse is emblematic of an iconic period of Picasso's oeuvre that was shaped by his devotion to Marie-Thérèse. The work was acquired in 1995 by the present owner, a European private collector.