Maya with Doll

Picasso's small daughter Maya sits clutching a doll, her round face split into simultaneous front and profile views, her body built from bright, flat, interlocking shapes. Painted with a father's tenderness, Maya with a Doll turns the Cubist fracturing of the face into something warm and playful rather than harsh. Now in the Musee Picasso collection, it is among his most affectionate portraits - the analytical devices of modern art applied to the everyday sweetness of a child at play, the beloved daughter rendered in cheerful color and gentle geometric invention.