Woman with a book, Completion Date: 1932. In early 1932, Picasso

painted a number of large canvases of women, brightly colored and elaborately drawn in heavy dark lines which flow into great sweeping curves. His model for these paintings was his mistress, Marie-Therèse Walter, who in this picture looks up from her book and momentarily daydreams. In Woman with a Book, Picasso referrred to Ingres' great portrait, Madame Moitessier. Striking similarities can be noted in the pose, the graceful, sensuous lines, and in the reflected image in the mirror behind the sitter.