Pablo Picasso’s complex and often tumultuous relationships were a profound source of inspiration for his art. His personal life, filled with passionate affairs and intense connections, often found expression in his paintings of muses, lovers, and children. One such masterpiece, Fillette au bateau (Maya), painted in 1938, will be up for auction at Sotheby’s this March, making its first appearance in more than two decades. This vibrant portrait of his daughter, Maya, is expected to bring in between $15 million and $20 million. The sale, following Maya Ruiz-Picasso’s passing in December 2022, will also serve as a tribute to her influence on her father’s work.
In 1927, Picasso was married to Olga Khokhlova, a Russian ballet dancer, but he began an affair with the young Marie-Thérèse Walter in 1927, who was only 17 at the time. This relationship, which lasted for several years, deeply impacted Picasso’s art, inspiring numerous portraits of Marie-Thérèse. On September 5, 1935, Picasso and Marie-Thérèse welcomed their daughter, Maya. The birth led to turmoil in Picasso’s personal life, with Olga filing for divorce upon discovering the affair. Despite this, Picasso found joy in his growing relationship with Maya. From 1938 to 1939, Picasso painted a series of fourteen portraits of his daughter—Fillette au bateau (Maya) being one of the most significant.
Created on February 4, 1938, when Maya was just two years old, this portrait stands out with its bold and lively colors, in stark contrast to Picasso’s more somber works like Guernica from 1937. Fillette au bateau (Maya) captures Maya seated on a dark red floor with an aqua-blue background. Picasso’s characteristic Cubist style is evident in the irregular forms and contrasting colors he uses for Maya’s limbs and features, yet the essence of a toddler is unmistakably captured. Maya gazes directly at the viewer, her face slightly turned in profile, while her exaggerated eyes and distorted proportions add to the surreal quality of the painting.
The use of bright, joyful colors in this portrait marks a shift in Picasso’s approach. As Samuel Valette, Senior Specialist in Impressionist and Modern Art at Sotheby’s London, noted, “In his portraits of Maya, Picasso reached for his most joyful, brightly coloured palette, and employed a combination of styles to elevate his daughter to the same level as his paintings of her mother, Marie-Thérèse.”
The resemblance between Fillette au bateau (Maya) and another famous portrait, Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) from 1937, is striking. Both portraits feature a similar facial expression and positioning, with identical eye, nose, and mouth shapes. Additionally, both Maya and Marie-Thérèse are depicted wearing berets, further linking the two works. While the color schemes differ, with Marie-Thérèse’s portrait using darker tones, the structural similarities in the faces of mother and daughter are undeniable.
Picasso’s deep connection with Maya reflects his desire to create a joyful childhood for her, a stark contrast to his own youth, which was marked by loss and hardship. The bright colors in this painting—reds, yellows, greens, and blues—echo a child’s playful innocence, evoking memories of drawing with crayons. Maya’s cheeks, tinged with purple, and the unconventional use of colors for her face and features, such as green nostrils and red eyes, give the piece a sense of fun and imaginative expression.
Maya Ruiz-Picasso dedicated much of her life to preserving her father’s legacy. After Picasso’s death in 1973, she fought for her right to be recognized as one of his heirs, alongside his other children. She played a crucial role in the preservation and exhibition of his artworks, and was honored for her efforts with titles such as Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2007 and Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2016. In 2015, she founded the Maya Picasso Foundation for Arts Education to further her father’s artistic legacy.
This portrait of Maya, with its vivid colors and personal significance, remains a powerful reminder of Picasso’s unique relationship with his daughter and his remarkable ability to capture the most intimate aspects of his life on canvas.
