In 1927, Picasso—who was in his mid-forties, married, and had a young son—began a clandestine affair with Marie-Thérèse Walter, a young woman of only seventeen. Picasso was drawn to Walter upon first sight, brashly introducing himself to the girl as she emerged from the Métro. He proposed that he paint her portrait; shortly thereafter she came to the studio and their intense relationship began. The artist was drawn to Walter’s flaxen hair, strong sculptural features, and voluptuous and sturdy build (skating, boating, cycling and swimming were some of her favorite pastimes). She quickly became his primary muse—her distinctive features appear in countless works over the next decade. Their torrid and somewhat perverse affair had the effect of freeing Picasso from the analytical, abstracted forms of Cubism and Surrealism to the sensual, energetic, and exploratory figurative work that became his hallmark.