Mrs. Eugenia Errazuraz (acquired directly from the artist)
Gallery Simon, Paris (acquired from the above in 1927)
Dr. G. F. Reber, Lausanne (acquired from the above in 1929)
Private Collection, France
Private Collection, Switzerland

Executed on gessoed paper mounted on canvas. Over the past century, the sensitive gesso has become stained in certain areas and a few small spots of lifting are visible. In these areas, there is evidence of a few generations of restoration, visible to the naked eye. Given the delicate nature of the medium, further restoration is not recommended. The above condition report has been prepared with the assistance of Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. For further information, interested parties may speak with a specialist and/or arrange to view the work firsthand.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Commissioned by the Chilean collector Eugenia Errazuriz, Femme s'habillant is part of a triptych executed by Picasso in 1917.   A woman of striking beauty, Eugenia posed not only for Picasso, but for the painters Giovanni Boldini, Paul César Helleu and John Singer Sargent (fig. 1).  "...A woman with modernist sympathies and a highly individual and original style, she became an arbiter of elegant taste, and the interiors of her houses in Paris, London and Biarritz came to be regarded as the ultimate in the aesthetics of stylized simplicity" (Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, New Haven, Connecticut, 1998, pp. 78).

Fig. 1 John Singer Sargent, Madame Errazuriz, circa 1883-84, oil on canvas, Private Collection