Picasso and his companion Fernande Olivier spent the summer of 1909 in the Catalan village of Horta de Ebro (present-day Horta de Sant Joan). Over a period of several months, Picasso produced an extensive series of female heads and standing and seated nudes, of which this is the culminating image. Although Fernande’s features inspired him, Picasso no longer needed to work from a live model; instead, the female figure became a means of experimenting with form.