Olga Khokhlova

Olga Khokhlova is my colourful portrait of the Ballets Russes dancer who later became Picasso’s first wife and the mother of their son, Paulo. Painted in acrylic on a 40 × 50 cm canvas, it includes a small ballerina beside her, a reminder of the life and career she had before Picasso.

I was drawn to Olga before I knew much of her story. The more I learnt, the more I wanted to see her as a person in her own right, rather than only through the portraits Picasso made of her. You can read more about Olga in The HeArt of Paris and in my Thursday Women story.