When Picasso painted "Women Ironing," he was only 22. It was 1904 and he was living in Paris trying to be a successful painter. Picasso is known for starting one painting and then mid way through, he would abandon it. For years, art historians have guessed that there is a painting underneath "Women Ironing." Images were even taken with an infrared camera in 1989, revealing a portrait of a man with a mustache. People do not know who the man is and whether or not it was painted by Picasso. Some believe that it is a portrait of Benet Soler, a Barcelona tailor and friend of Picasso. There is said to something next to the man, and some people think that it is a sewing machine which would support the Soler hypothesis. When the painting was transferred the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris in 1952, a thief broke in a tried to steal it by cutting it out of the frame. He was caught before he could steal it, but he caused substantial damage. The painting was fixed, but people started to notice more color seeping through the grey tones. When the painting was further inspected, people found the man standing next to an easel instead. The Picasso like brush strokes and his positioning makes people think that this is a self portrait instead. People are still in disagreement to who the mysterious man is. "Women Ironing" is currently located in the Guggenheim Museum.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/arts/design/under-a-picasso-painting-another-picasso-painting.html?ref=arts&_r=1&
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