The Laboratory of Sculpture

The Boisgeloup studio became a great laboratory for Picasso. There, he not only worked plaster directly with his hands, but he also tried to transfer the textures of other elements, including natural ones, by pressing them onto the ductile material. In the artist’s studio, full of white pieces of different sizes, the busts of Marie-Thérèse were accompanied by other works, some now lost while others are shown here, such as the small plaster bathers. Later came sculptures like Head of a Warrior (1933) and Woman with Leaves (1934). In one of his conversations with renowned photographer Brassaï, Picasso explained the method he used to create them, coupling real objects and materials with fragments of plaster and so fusing the techniques of modeling and assemblage.