[5] Picasso had a studio on Rue du Fournas in Vallauris, and Corbett – then known as Sylvette – would often walk past the artist's window en route to meet her fiancé.

A few weeks later, Corbett was chatting with friends while smoking and drinking coffee when she spotted Picasso in his studio next door, holding up one of his pictures.

[5] In the months that followed, between April and June, Picasso persuaded Corbett to sit for him regularly and created a series of more than 60 portraits of her in various media, including drawings and sculptures as well as 28 paintings.

Life magazine announced a new epoch in Picasso's art – his "Ponytail Period" – and Brigitte Bardot is said to have adopted Sylvette's style after seeing her walking along the promenade in Cannes.

[citation needed] Corbett's own work has also been exhibited at the Tate, and she counts the Anthony Petullo Foundation among her clients.