Ma Jolie (Picasso, New York)

"Ma Jolie" is the title and a recurring motif in several Cubist works by Pablo Picasso, most notably a painting completed in the winter of 1911-12 now housed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. The phrase, meaning "My Pretty One" in French, was a popular refrain from a song at the time, performed at the Parisian music hall, the Moulin Rouge. The phrase references Picasso's love interest at the time, Marcelle Humbert, whom he affectionately nicknamed "Eva Gouel."

The painting itself exemplifies Analytic Cubism. It features fractured and overlapping planes rendered in a limited palette of browns, grays, and ochres. The recognizable element of a musical score and a depiction of a stringed instrument (likely a guitar) are visible amongst the abstract forms. The words "Ma Jolie" are stenciled near the center of the composition, firmly grounding the abstract imagery and connecting it to a real-world sentiment.

Beyond the specific MoMA painting, the "Ma Jolie" motif appears in other contemporaneous works by Picasso, functioning as a subtle declaration of his affections and as an identifier within his avant-garde explorations. The inclusion of popular culture references like song lyrics was a characteristic of early Cubism, blurring the lines between high art and everyday life.