Olga Sacharoff was born in Tiblisi, Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire, and studied at the art school there. She moved to Munich to continue her studies, and it was here that she met her future husband, the artist and photographer Otto Lloyd. In 1911 they went to live in Paris where they associated with the circle that had grown up around fellow artist and emigree Marie Vassilieff. At Vassilieff's atelier they would have met such artists as Juan Gris, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and the composer Erik Satie. The outbreak of the First World War caused Sacharoff and Lloyd to leave for Spain, where they settled first in Majorca and then in Barcelona. It was here that she collaborated with the Dada artist Francis Picarbia on the publication 391. In print between 1917 and 1924, 391 was both literary and artistic in tone and included contributions by Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. While continuing to live and work in Spain, Sacharoff also exhibited at the Salons d'Automne in Paris. Her separation from Lloyd in the late 1920s caused a deep depression which led to a cessation in her painting. However she reappeared in 1934, with a show at the Layetanas Gallery in Barcelona. She continued to live and work there until her death.
Gilberte Tintorer was the wife of the pianist Gonzalo Tintorer (1890-1969). Olga Sacharoff knew Gonzalo and Gilberte in Barcelona and painted this portrait of her there in 1936.