Image: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
View source →Sylvette (Portrait of Sylvette David)
Pablo Picasso, 1954
Technical Details
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
73 × 60 cm (28.7 × 23.6 in)
Style
Late Style
Decade
1950s
About This Work
Sylvette David, a young English woman with a distinctive blonde ponytail, became the subject of over 40 portraits by Picasso in the spring of 1954. This version from the Moderna Museet shows the characteristic simultaneous profile and frontal view, with the ponytail rendered as a bold graphic element. The Sylvette series marked a late-career obsession with a new muse.
Sylvette David (born 1934) lived near Picasso's studio in Vallauris. Picasso was captivated by her distinctive ponytail hairstyle and painted her over 40 times in the spring of 1954. She later became a ceramic artist and worked with sculptor Carl Nesjar to create monumental concrete versions of Picasso's Sylvette portraits.
Current Location
Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
Priceless / Not for sale
* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.
Last Known Sale
No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection
Keywords
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