The present impression of La Femme au Miroir is from the first state, or version, of the subject. Picasso went on to develop the composition through five subsequent states, in each one scratching away some of the previous composition using sand paper and adding to or altering the image. Before each alteration he would then print off a number of impressions in order to retain the previous version. It was this ability to not only develop a subject as his creativity desired,
but importantly to keep a record of the previous versions, which
attracted Picasso to printmaking. This lithograph, being early on in
the development of the subject, allows us to see the artist's great
skill in building a composition by simply blocking in forms with one
colour and adding some definition in black. Fernand Mourlot, the
publisher of many of Picasso's lithographs, recorded only five
impressions of this print, therefore making this impression very rare.