Picasso's 'Young Woman' Shown in Italy for First Time Amid Russian Repatriation Demand

Pablo Picasso's 1909 painting 'Young Woman' (La Giovane Donna) is exhibited in Italy for the first time at the Fondazione Alda Fendi – Esperimenti in Rome, on loan from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The multidisciplinary exhibition, curated by artistic director Raffaele Curi, integrates music, dance, and photographic memories of Picasso's life. The painting depicts Fernanda Olivier (born Amélie Lang), Picasso's lover and muse for nearly eight years, who wrote a memoir titled 'Picasso and His Friends'. Olga Leontjeva, curator at the Hermitage, notes that the figure becomes almost ephemeral, dissolving into a play of facets with gray tones conveying nostalgia despite the expressive density. The canvas originally belonged to Moscow collector Sergei Shchukin, who discovered it with Henri Matisse at Picasso's Paris studio and subsequently purchased all of Picasso's 1908 works. The Hermitage holds 38 Picasso paintings. However, due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has demanded the return of all artworks loaned to 'hostile' countries, including Italy. The foundation received the repatriation request but will keep the painting on view for an additional 20 days. The exhibition also features a photograph of Shchukin's home showing the painting among 51 Picasso works from the Blue, Rose, and Cubist periods.