Fernande Olivier

Fernande Olivier ( born June 6, 1881 in Paris, † January 29, 1966 in Neuilly -sur -Seine ) was the first partner and muse of Pablo Picasso from 1905 until 1912.

Origin

Fernande was born Amélie Lang, illegitimate daughter of Clara Lang and grew up in the milliners family Bellevallée, the flowers, feathers and other fashion products manufactured. At seventeen she got from a seller named Paul -Emile Percheron a son, the couple married when the child was five months old. After the father had disappeared with the son, Fernande married the sculptor Gaston de Labaume by which it was driven out of their middle-class family in the Parisian artistic milieu. She worked as a model and lay around 1900 the artist name " Fernande Olivier " to.

Significance for Picasso

On August 4, 1904 Olivier Picasso met in the studio house Bateau Lavoir, and became his model and his first solid partner. During the same period in 1904, Picasso made in the Bateau - Lavoir the acquaintance of Guillaume Apollinaire and Kees van Dongen. Picasso made ​​Fernande in numerous works from his Cubist period 1904-1909. An example is the sculpture Head of a Woman ( Fernande ). Fernande led a lively correspondence with Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas and Apollinaire. After her separation from Picasso in 1912, she continued to work as a nude model and later became a teacher. 1933 published Fernande Olivier their first memoirs about their time together with Picasso, the second part was published posthumously.

Paul Léautaud reported Fernande Olivier in his journal.