Femme assise, 1927

In 1964 Parkin was serving on the Art Gallery of Toronto Women’s Committee when Femme assise, 1927, by Picasso came up for purchase. The piece almost didn’t make it into the collection; however, thanks to Parkin, this painting is now at the AGO.

“Picasso has been a major figure, and everything he has ever done throughout his bloody career is so great that really, it’s nearly impossible for me to single out just one work by him. But this one, his ‘Seated Woman’ … well, there’s a story attached to it. The gallery wanted to buy Femme assise, but the board said, ‘We don’t have the funds.’

“Jean Boggs, at the time curator for the Art Gallery of Toronto (she soon went on to become the first female and fifth director of the National Gallery of Canada), came to me and said, ‘Is there any way you would change directions in your policy?’ because at that time, we on the Women’s Committee were dedicated to buying works by members of the New York School. We had decided that all of our resources were going to make an impact in this area. I asked Jean if it was crucial, and she said, ‘Well, we will not be able to get this important painting without your help.’ So I went to the committee and I laid it out and said, ‘What do you think? I personally think we should support this.’ To this day, I still think that he, Picasso, is the greatest artist probably of all time.”