Obra de la semana: Maya à la poupèe

Maya à la poupèe is a portrait of Picasso's daughter Maya, painted in 1938. In the 1930s, Picasso produced a series of portraits of Maya that revealed the extent to which the birth of his daughter triggered an explosion of creativity in his art.

However, many were not made public at first, because Picasso's relationship with Maya's mother Marie-Thérèse and the child's birth were known to few. 

As with the portraits of Paulo, Picasso's first child, we find the delicate touch of the father's tenderness in front of his daughter. The face of little Maya is depicted in profile and from the front at the same time. The uneven, lively and intense eyes stare at her father, as if they were establishing a tender complicity. Maya appears in the centre of the canvas, with an undefined, timeless setting that fades in favour of a focus on the intimacy between father and daughter.

The portraits of Maya show Picasso's many variations on the principles of Cubism. This renewal took the form of a "psychological Cubism" during those years, as can be seen in this painting, in which Picasso questions the figure through variations in the composition.

The work is part of the permanent collection of the Musée national Picasso Paris and is now on loan to the Museo de Belas Artes in A Coruña for the exhibition Picasso, white in blue memory, which can be seen until 25 June. In fact, this painting is one of the star pieces of the exhibition. 

Sources: 

Esteban, Paloma (presentación), Los grandes genios del arte contemporáneo. No. 1. El siglo XX. Picasso 1881-1914, 2004

Museo Picasso de París: https://www.museepicassoparis.fr/sites/default/files/2022-05/PEDAGOGIQUE_Maya_SP.pdf

Xunta de Galicia: https://www.xunta.gal/notas-de-prensa/-/nova/77155/xunta-reivindica-influencia-galega-obra-picasso-grande-exposicion-mais-100-pezas?langId=es_ES