Seated Woman

Gestel began trying out the formal language of Cubism in 1912, on portraits, landscapes and flower pieces alike, and this seated woman comes from that first year of experiment. The museum does not name the sitter, and little has been published about the painting itself. Its later history is clearer. It came to the Stedelijk as a bequest from Mrs G. Gestel-Overtoom of Blaricum, and was afterwards restored with money from the participants of the BankGiro Loterij, a Dutch charity lottery that supports museums.