La Lecture II. La Lecture (or Reading) depicts Picasso's mistress and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, asleep with a book upon her lap. Is a clone of his No. 1 work, it describes the inner conflict when his wife Olga Khokhlova has left his life. The emotions between the new lover and the ex-wife were still swarming in his thoughts, causing Picasso to plunge into creativity non-stop and he re-drawed this painting because he wanted the new wife to be a joy, a new emotion, and a new creation. bringing peace, taking over and replacing the voids he was wounded by the spirit, the inner obsession that he had to contend with between the new and the old. The painted work depicts the feelings that sometimes have a hint of nostalgia, the images of the past still exist, so he accepted the presence of a new life.

The painting was completed and it was later given to his students as if he wanted to get rid of and forget all the old things that happened in the past to live with a new happiness.

This work was given to Mr. Peter Nguyen Tuong Anh Lan, who accompanied President Ho Chi Minh and Prime Minister Pham Van Dong on their trip to France to attend the 1946 Fontainebleau Conference. This work is found in a collection. In private collection it was buried underground, forgotten for many years by the war. The work is valued at 150 million USD.