Picasso met Jacqueline in Vallauris in the summer of 1953 and married her in 1961. The large number of variations of the portrait of his wife Jacqueline are documents of his love.

The linocut counts among those portraits of Jaqueline from the second group of large linocuts from 1962, made in cooperation with the printer Arnéra as of 1958. From 1953 on Picasso began to explore the possibilities and limits of this technique with all his creative powers. Inspired by Munch woodcuts, he developed a new technique in order to produce multicolor linocuts. Accordingly, this portrait was also made in five different colors without the usage of blacak, it is a remarkable example of the intensive occupation with the technique, of which Picasso exploited every aspect.

Picasso makes the surface smooth of the linoleum plate, which was often criticized by other artists - intentionally subject of a composition that is neither emphasized nor optically eliminated by it. This led to a unique oeuvre of mostly color prints from several linoplates, an achievement solely owed to Picasso's genius.