Picasso's African Period St. Petersburg). Picasso's African Period Picasso's African Period, which was three years long, lasted from 1906 to 1909, was the period when Pablo Picasso painted in a style which was strongly influenced by African sculpture and particularly traditional African masks. This proto-Cubist period following Picasso's Blue Period and Rose Period has also been called the Negro Period, or Black Period. In the early 20th century, African artworks were being brought back to Paris museums in consequence of the expansion of the French empire into Sub-Saharan Africa. The press was abuzz with exaggerated stories of cannibalism and exotic tales about the
Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress is one of the best known portraits by Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. Executed in oil on canvas, it measures 127 cm high by 107 cm wide and was one of Velázquez's last paintings, produced in 1659, a year before his death. It shows Margaret Theresa of Spain who also appears in the artist's "Las Meninas". Currently, the painting is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This is one of the several court portraits made by Velázquez on different occasions of Infanta Margaret Theresa who, at fifteen, married her