Picasso's La Belle Hollandaise (The Beautiful Dutch Woman), 1905

Her tranquil expression is what grabs you when you first look at her. That, and the relaxed warmth of her naked flesh. She is not your typical deconstructed Picasso female. Painted in 1905, during his Rose Period, La Belle Hollandaise does not foreshadow Picasso’s future violent fragmentation of his female subjects.

The 23-year-old Picasso was living in Montmartre at the time, the shady streets of which were full of street urchins, prostitutes, tradesmen, petty criminals and a multitude of artists. In summer of that year, to escape the unforgiving Paris heat, Picasso traveled with his friend Tom Schilperoort to his hometown Schoorl, 50 kilometers from Amsterdam. Picasso was so broke that he had to borrow 20 franks for a train ticket.

The identity of the girl is not known with certainty. She could be either the Schoorl's postman's daughter - Dieuwertje de Geus, or perhaps Nelly Timmer, the house cleaner where Picasso stayed with Tom Schilperoort. She wears a traditional Dutch white bonnet, which signified modesty in Dutch rural areas. Such clothes were still worn by many women in the village when Picasso was there. The juxtaposition of her nonchalant nakedness and this symbol of modesty in her delicate lace bonnet, is what makes this work so exquisite.

The beautiful Dutch woman, 1905, resides permanently in Brisbane at @qagoma.