Reclining Nude and Cat

‘The Reclining Female Nude is a common and ancient symbol of beauty, which Picasso treats with exuberance. One can imagine Titian´s various representations of Venus accompanied by a dog and Goya´s Naked Maja (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid) (fig. 1) as possible models for this recumbent figure. The nude prostitute and black cat of Manet´s Olympia (Musée d´Orsay, Paris) are also likely sources for this work. On the other hand, Picasso may have been directly influenced by reality: Hélène Parmelin tells of black cat that in 1964 appeared in the garden of Notre-Dame-de-Vie, Picasso´s residence near Mougins, and inspired a series of drawings and paintings of Jacqueline Roque (1927-1986) and the cat were created between January and May 1964 [1]. Although two dates – 29 January 1964 and 17 February 1964 – are inscribed on the back of the Museum´s work, it is believed to be the first painting of the series and is one of the five paintings from 1964 of Jacqueline and the cat that remained in the artist´s estate […]. When compared with the other reclining nudes of this series, the present work differs in the lack of interaction between the model and the animal. Here, the woman seems indifferent to the standing cat, whereas, in the other paintings of the series, she plays quietly with the cat or holds it.

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828). The Naked Maja, 1795-1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid© Photographic Archives Museo Nacional del Prado

When the present painting is compared with a drawing from 1 February 1964(fig. 2), several changes are apparent. In the painting, pentimenti are discernible at the woman´s left foot and above the cat (in the form of three arches). Most likely, in the first state of the painting, the woman´s body was treated much like the one in this drawing in which the lack on interaction is so pronounced that the model appears to sleep while a cat with bristling hair strides precariously across her thigh. In the artist´s reworking on the painting, the model´s lower foot is no longer pointed downward as in the drawing, and her fleshy right leg has been reduced. Glossy white lines all over the figure show that it was reworked.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Reclining Nude and Cat IV, 1 February 1964. Private Collection © All rights reserved © Succession Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2024

To repeat this classic theme, Picasso referred to figures from his 1960s series of reclining nudes, as well as those related to the famous L´Aubade, or Serenade, 1942 (MNAM, Paris) (fig.3). Many of these works place the woman on the same striped mattresslike surface as here. The figures are often outlined, with the result that the mass of their bodies is communicated through line drawing rather than through colored shapes.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). The Dawn (Reclining Nude with a Musician), 4 May 1942. Centre Pompidou - Musée national d’art moderne - Centre de création industrielle © Succession Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2024

In the present painting, the space occupied by the figure is almost hollow, empty. Her body seems to float upon the blue half of the painting but also seems to be embedded in it, as if an aqueous mass were molding itself around her. Similarly, the green wash of the background presses from above; her gigantic raised hand resists, but it is fixed in the green haze. The woman is defined as much by the opposing color fields as by her own shape. The standing black cat with its erect tail, the woman´s swollen hands, and the gray coloration of her disjointed Cubist face are a vast departure from the traditional paintings of this subject, and they imbue it with mysterious abandon’ [2].


[1] HÉLÈNE, Parmelin. Notre-Dame-da-Vie: Secrets d´Alcôve d´un Atelier. París: Éditions Cercle d´Art, 1966, p. 88
[2] GIMÉNEZ, Carmen (ed). Colección Museo Picasso Málaga. Malaga: Museo Picasso Málaga, 2003, pp. 161-163.