Marie Laurencin

Sketchbook with 21 drawings on 54 leaves, 4 of flowers, 17 of female figures.
This sketchbook was used by Marie Laurencin (1883-1956) from 1920 through 1922. It contains 19 watercolors and 2 graphite drawings. Of the watercolors, 16 are portraits of female figures and 3 are of flowers. There is one graphite sketch of a head and one of flowers. In 1923, a facsimile with additions titled Les Petites Filles was created. The Morgan owns a copy of the facsimile (1984.48a). Additions to the facsimile include printed inscriptions of titles, mainly of first names, such as "Marie," "Olga," and "Nicole - Germaine." These names may refer to the sitter or inspiration for each portrait. "Marie" may be a self-portrait, "Olga" may refer to Olga Khokhlova (1891-1955), the ballet dancer and first wife of Picasso, and "Nicole - Germaine" may represent the fashion designer Nicole Groult (1887-1967) and her sister, the painter Germaine Bongard (1885-1971). These watercolor portraits are consistent with Laurencin's unique style of portraiture that emerged during her career in 1920s, interwar Paris. Although highly stylized, Laurencin often worked from the model. The small, portable scale of this sketchbook suggests that she may have sketched from life.
Stored with a facsimile of the sketchbook (1984.48a) cataloged separately [B3 030 A15].