For biographical and background information see Acc. 1:0791 'Essay'. In the summer of 1933 Picasso went on vacation to Cannes with his wife Olga. This work is dated 13 July 1933. There is a fantastical almost Surrealist element to this work which corresponds to a contemporary series of 'Bather' figures by Picasso - figures which have been described as frequently of 'elephantine' proportions. The curvilinear lines of this woman emit a strong sensuous feeling, while the sculptural treatment of the head reminds us of the bulbous shapes of some of Picasso's sculpture of the same period. The transposition of parts of the body gives a droll but strange feeling to the work while the bright blue evokes the mood of the mediterranean. Other watercolours Picasso did in the same month depict scenes with a classical mediterranean aspect, which are echoed in the Minotaur series and others have disembodied forms and a Surrealist quality. Caroline Turner, Feb. 1990