MARIA BLANCHARD (Santander 1881 - Paris 1932)."Tête de Jeune fille", c. 1930.Pastel and charcoal on paper adhered to canvas.Work included in the Catalogue Raisonné "Blanchard Catalogue Raisonné" by Liliane Caffin Madaule.Work exhibited in Aarau Kunstmuseum no. 307.Retains informative labels on the back.Provenance; Ricco Hediger Reinach Collection.Damaged and missing in the frame.Signed in the lower left corner.Measurements: 60 x 50 cm; 82 x 70 cm (frame).The subtlety and elegance of this portrait harmonises with an exceptional technical mastery, which can be appreciated in the play of the use of colour with which she creates the volume of the face and the scarcity of strokes that the artist needs to create a realistic portrait. The author presents us with a work in which she brings together all the plastic experiences that formed part of her artistic career. For this reason Blanchard conceives a portrait of cubist heritage, an influence that can be seen in the chromatic range based on ochres and greys, although Blanchard does not abandon realism, but creates a portrait of recognisable forms, heir to the portrait tradition and also contributes a mature vision, typical of her last stage, defined through the use of a broad, rapid and vibrant brushstroke, thus obtaining a work that stands out for its expressionist aesthetic.María Gutierrez Blanchard, usually known by her mother's surname, trained as a painter in Madrid, where she moved in 1903. Here she studied under the guidance of the painters Emilio Sala and Álvarez de Sotomayor. In 1909 she was awarded a scholarship by the Diputación de Santander to study in Paris. In the French capital he was taught by Anglada Camarasa and Kees van Dongen, freeing him from his academic training and introducing him fully into the world of avant-garde art. In 1914 he returned to Madrid and began to attend Ramón Gómez de la Serna's gatherings at the Café Pombo, taking part in the controversial exhibition "Pintores íntegros" ("Complete Painters"). After devoting himself temporarily to teaching in Salamanca, he returned to Paris for good in 1916. From that year until 1920 he developed a cubist phase in which figurative references never disappeared. He was a member of the Parisian Cubist group and became friends with some of its members, such as Juan Gris, Lipchitz and André Lhote. In the 1920s he exhibited in exhibitions organised in Paris and Belgium. Among the works from his first period, "The Communicant", presented to great acclaim at the Salon des Indépendants in 1921, stands out. Between 1920 and 1932 he returned to a type of figurative painting, albeit cubist from the compositional point of view, in which the treatment of light generates cottony textures. Two anthologies dedicated to the painter have been held in Spain, one at the Biosca gallery in Madrid (1962) and the other at the former Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art (1982). Maria Blanchard was both a great painter and a theoretician, as she organised gatherings in her Paris flat, where different artists, including Juan Gris, discussed painting and the new trends that were taking place at the time.