The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

The Artist's Sister Lola

1899–1900

Pablo Picasso

(Spanish, 1881–1973)
Spain, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 62.5 x 54 x 8 cm (24 5/8 x 21 1/4 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 46.7 x 37.5 cm (18 3/8 x 14 3/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David S. Ingalls 1966.377
© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Did You Know?

Picasso's younger sister, Maria Dolores Ruiz Picasso, known as Lola, was born in Málaga, Spain, in December 1884, several days after the city suffered an earthquake. The family sometimes affectionately called Lola "La Terremótica" (the little earthquake) partly because of the circumstances of her birth, but also because of her restless and inquisitive nature.

Description

Pablo Picasso painted this portrait when he was 18 years old and sharing ideas with artists and writers in Barcelona who were dubbed modernists in the press. During this period, his younger sister, Maria Dolores Ruiz Picasso (1884–1958), known as Lola, was a favorite model. Picasso’s bold handling of paint, the intense palette, and the way in which the figure’s hands are merely suggested reveal the artist’s early embrace of modernism. Lola’s mantilla (a lace or silk scarf worn over the head and shoulders especially by Spanish and Latin American women) may allude to the family’s Andalusian roots in southern Spain and their Catholic faith.
  • Antonio Vancells, Barcelona, Spain
    (Knoedler & Co., New York, NY)
    1951-1966
    Jane Taft Ingalls, Cleveland, OH
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • McCully, Marilyn, ed. and Natasha Elena Staller. Picasso--the Early Years, 1892-1906. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1997. Reproduced: p. 104
    Jiminez, Jill Berk, and Joanna Banham. Dictionary of Artists' Models. London, United Kingdom: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001. Reproduced: p. 427
    Robinson, William H., Jordi Falgàs, and Carmen Belen Lord. Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2006. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 96
    Serraller, F. Calvo, and Carmen Giménez. Picasso: Tradition and Avant-Garde : 6 June-4 September 2006. Madrid, Spain: Museo Nacional del Prado, 2006. Reproduced: p. 241
    19th Century European Paintings: Including Spanish Painting 1850-1930 London: Sotheby's, 2006. Reproduced: p. 60
    Vallès, Eduard. Picasso versus Rusiñol: Barcelona, Museu Picasso, 27 de mayo-5 de septiembre de 2010. Barcelona, Spain: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Institut de Cultura, 2010. Reproduced: p. 279
    Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展 : 名画でたどる日本の美 Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Reproduced: p. 134
    Vallès, Eduard. Picasso: obra catalana. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2015. Reproduced: p. 34-[35]
    Gual, Malén. Lola Ruiz Picasso: La Custòdia del Tresor =The Custodian of the Treasure. Barcelona: Fundació Museu Picasso de Barcelona, 2021. Reproduced: P. 65; Mentioned: P. 117
    McCully, Marilyn. "Lola Ruiz Picasso." In Picasso: The Women in His Life: an Homage. Margrit Bernard, 26-39. Munich: Hirmer, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 32-33
  • Spain: 500 Years of Spanish Painting from the Museum of Madrid. San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX (organizer) (June 22-September 16, 2018).
    Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).
    Barcelona & Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí (1868-1939). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15, 2006-January 7, 2007); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (co-organizer) (March 4-June 3, 2007).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
    Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906. National Gallery of Art (organizer) (March 30-July 27, 1997); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (September 10, 1997-January 4, 1998).
    Picasso: The Artist before Nature. Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand (organizer) (September 21-November 12, 1989).
    Picasso, Miró, Dali. Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Bruxelles, Belgium (September 26-December 22, 1985).
    Pablo Picasso: Fruhwerk und Blaue Periode (Pablo Picasso: Early Work and the Blue Period). Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland (organizer) (December 6, 1984-February 17, 1985).
    Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).
  • {{cite web|title=The Artist's Sister Lola|url=false|author=Pablo Picasso|year=1899–1900|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.377