Marie Laurencin, Girl’s Head, 1916–18, watercolor, pencil, and crayon on paper. Courtesy of MoMA. Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo.
“The most unusual feature of Marie Laurencin’s diminutive drawing ‘Girl’s Head’ is its subject’s billowing, black, cumulus-cloud-like mass of hair.” — Anne Umland for MoMA Magazine.
Born in Paris in 1883, Marie Laurencin became a key figure in early 20th-century modernism, forging close connections with leading avant-garde artists including Pablo Picasso and poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Her marriage to the German aristocrat Otto von Wätjen forced her into exile in Spain during the First World War, where she refined her distinctive style characterized by soft lines, poetic imagery, and an understated approach to color.
“Girl’s Head” is part of the exhibition “Lillie P. Bliss and the Birth of the Modern,” on view at MoMA through March 29, 2025.