Who was Gertrude Stein in Pablo Picasso’s life?

Gertrude Stein was an influential American writer and a significant figure in Pablo Picasso’s life, serving as both his friend and patron.12

Along with her brother, Leo Stein, she was among the first collectors to recognize and purchase works by Picasso and other experimental painters of the period. Stein’s support was instrumental during the early stages of Picasso’s career, and she is famously the subject of his 1906 Portrait of Gertrude Stein, a work that reflects his evolving style and his discovery of archaic Iberian sculpture.1342