Tête de Femme au Chapeau by Pablo Picasso records the artist's engagement with the linocut medium during his late creative period, when he had relocated to the South of France and was exploring printmaking with renewed vigour. Executed in 1962 as part of an unnumbered edition, the work underlines Picasso's approach to linocut, developed alongside master printer Hidalgo Arnéra at his Mougins studio.

Tête de Femme au Chapeau explores a female head rendered in bold white lines against a rich burgundy ground, the woman's features crowned by an elaborate hat that dominates the upper portion of the image. Picasso employs his characteristic vocabulary of fragmented and reassembled forms—the face viewed simultaneously from multiple angles, with one eye presented frontally whilst the profile emerges from the left side of the composition. The hat becomes an architectural element, its brim providing a geometric counterpoint to the more fluid curves of the face.

The deep red background creates a strong chromatic intensity that heightens the linear elements carved into the linoleum block. This colour choice reflects Picasso's sensitivity to the Mediterranean palette that surrounded him during these later decades, when the tones of southern France increasingly informed his work. The handling of line remains controlled but fluid, defining decorative patterns in the hat while also shaping the structure of the face.

During this period, Picasso was working closely with Jacqueline Roque, who had become both his companion and a recurring subject. The refinement of the hat and the clarity of the facial construction suggest another variation within this sustained exploration of the female figure. The technical execution shows his command of the reduction method in linocut, where successive layers are carved away from a single block to build the final image.

Tête de Femme au Chapeau holds firm as a clear example of Picasso’s late printmaking, where formal control and direct execution take precedence over complexity, and the image is carried by line and colour.

For more information or to buy Tête de Femme au Chapeau by Pablo Picasso, contact our specialists using the enquiry button above.
Explore Pablo Picasso prints for sale, or discover how to sell Pablo Picasso prints.