This piece was gifted to Geneviève Laporte(1926–2012), Pablo Picasso's lover from 1951-53. It is a fine example of Picasso's earlier cubist style and the viewer is able to identify several iconographic elements specific to Cubism within the image like the guitar, the bottle, the fruit bowl and table. By varying the tones of brown and beige, Picasso creates the illusion of volume in a 2-D space, a Cubist concept he continuously explored and developed throughout his work at this time. Like many of his compositions, Picasso returned to this image often between 1919-1920, creating over 20 variations as gouaches on paper and coloured stencils.

Coloured stencil, 1920, on laid paper, signed lower right, numbered from the edition of 100, image: 26.8 x 21.9 cm (10.5 x 8.6 in.), sheet: 30.1 x 24.9 cm (11.8 x 9.8 in.)

reference to original gouache: Zervos, Vol. III, No. 417