Louise Lawler’s Women with Picasso was first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1987. Dedicated to presenting recent works by contemporary artists, MoMA’s Project 9 showcased Lawler’s then newly established theme of photographing works by other artists. Lawler’s appropriation of existing works directs the spectator's attention to the relationship between objects and their context.

In Women with Picasso, Lawler photographed a young woman holding Picasso’s Guitar in her hand. A paper construction completed in 1912, Guitar is currently housed at the Musée Picasso in Paris. Lawler took this photograph shortly after the museum opened to the public in 1985. Considering only a curator or a conservator of the museum would be allowed to handle such a delicate construction by Picasso, Lawler most likely captured the young institution's professional in the middle of a presentation or demonstration.

Lawler created an intriguing juxtaposition between the inestimable value of the work and its casual presentation by displaying a precious piece of art usually only seen in a glass case in someone's bare hands. The contrast challenges one's established perception of a Picasso and reflects upon how the presentation can endow meanings and values to artworks. As Lawler has once stated, "Is it the work, the location, or the stereotype that is the institution?"