Fernande olivier biography definition

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Fernande Olivier (born Amélie Lang; 1881–1966) was a French artist and model known primarily for having been the model of painter Pablo Picasso, and for her written accounts of her relationship with him.

Picasso painted over 60 portraits of Olivier.

Youth

Olivier was born of an out-of-wedlock relationship between her mother and a married man. She was raised solely by an aunt, who attempted to arrange a marriage for her.

Instead, Olivier ran away and married a man who abused her. In 1900, when she was 19 years old, she left her husband without a formal divorce and moved to Paris.

Fernande olivier biography definition

She changed her name so that her husband could not find her.

Olivier quickly found work modeling for artists; she was a fixture in the circle of friends of writer Guillaume Apollinaire, where she also became friends with Paul Léautaud, Kees Van Dongen and Edmond-Marie Poullain.

Van Dongen