Buste de Femme au Corsage Blanc (Jacqueline de Profil) by Pablo Picasso registers his second wife Jacqueline Roque in an intimate profile study, executed in 1957 as part of an edition of fifty lithographs employing wash drawing and scraper techniques on zinc. The image sits within the artist's devoted portrayal of Jacqueline, whom he married in 1961 but had lived with since 1954, making her the most frequently depicted subject in his later oeuvre.

Buste de Femme au Corsage Blanc (Jacqueline de Profil) examines Jacqueline in three-quarter profile, her dark hair swept back and secured, revealing the elegant line of her neck and the classical proportions that so captivated Picasso. Her white corsage, rendered through delicate gradations of wash and strategic use of the scraper, creates luminous passages against the tonal ground. The lithographic medium allows for both precise linear definition in the facial features and atmospheric effects in the background, demonstrating Picasso's sophisticated understanding of printmaking techniques during this period.

By 1957, Picasso had relocated permanently to the South of France, where the Mediterranean light and his domestic happiness with Jacqueline profoundly influenced his artistic output. The Jacqueline series emerged from this contentment, representing a departure from the anguished imagery of his earlier decades. Here, the artist employs a restrained palette of greys and whites, allowing form to emerge through tonal relationships rather than the bold colour contrasts of his previous work.

The technical approach reveals Picasso's mastery of lithographic processes, particularly his use of lift ground techniques that create the subtle textural variations visible across the surface. The scraper work adds areas of bright highlight, most notably in the white corsage that gives the work its title. These technical innovations demonstrate how Picasso, even in his seventies, continued to push the boundaries of traditional printmaking methods.

Buste de Femme au Corsage Blanc (Jacqueline de Profil) exemplifies the tenderness that characterised Picasso's depictions of his final muse. The work's intimate scale and quiet monumentality reflect both his emotional attachment to Jacqueline and his ability to find fresh approaches to the portrait tradition. The careful balance between representation and abstraction, achieved through the interplay of wash tones and linear elements, confirms this lithograph as a significant example of Picasso's late printmaking achievements, where personal devotion and technical innovation converged to create works of remarkable sensitivity.

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