Muses: Dora Maar

Episode Summary

The podcast episode discusses Dora Maar, a 20th century artist best known as Pablo Picasso's muse and lover. Maar was born Henriette Theodora Markovic in 1907 in Paris to a French mother and Croatian father. She grew up between Paris and Buenos Aires due to her father's work. In the 1920s, Maar studied painting and photography, eventually opening her own studio in Paris in the 1930s. She became known for her experimental and surrealist photographs that spliced objects together and used techniques like scratching negatives. During this time, she also met Pablo Picasso. Maar and Picasso developed both a romantic and artistic relationship. Picasso encouraged Maar to return to painting and she created cubist works like him. Maar also documented the creation of Picasso's famous Guernica mural in a series of photographs. After World War II, Maar had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. Her relationship with Picasso ended shortly after. She withdrew from the art world for decades, though continued to create paintings and photographs. She eventually reemerged in the 1990s with exhibitions of her work. The podcast highlights Maar's artistic career and innovations in photography beyond just being known as Picasso's muse. It also touches on her struggles with mental health. Her legacy lives on through her experimental photographs and paintings.

Episode Show Notes

Dora Maar (1907-1997) is best known as the model who inspired Pablo Picasso’s portrait “The Weeping Woman.” However, she was much more than a muse. Her experimental and surrealist paintings and photographs are still influential today.

Episode Transcript

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Join us all month long for fascinating stories of women who are drivers of creativity, inspiration, and artistic expression. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about muses, women who are drivers of creativity and inspiration. Today's muse is best known as the model of Pablo Picasso's portrait, The Weeping Woman. But she was much more than a muse. Her experimental and surrealist paintings and photographs are still influential today. Please welcome Dora Mar. Dora was born Henriette Theodora Markovic on November 22nd, 1907 in Paris. Her mother was French and her father was Croatian. Growing up, Dora split her time between Paris and Buenos Aires thanks to her father's job as an architect. She was fluent in both Spanish and French. In 1920, Dora settled in France permanently with her mother. Three years later, she began studying art at a school focused on educating women in the decorative arts. Dora dove into the cultural scene of Paris and met many other artists. After graduation, she continued her artistic education. She took classes at the studio of painter Andre Lutt and she tried her hand at photography, enrolling in classes to help her pursuit. In 1927, Dora ditched painting to pursue photography full-time. She began work as a photographer, a relatively new profession. In 1931, she and a set designer opened their own studio and Dora changed her name to Dora Mar. Dora captured everything from high fashion studio portraits to Paris street scenes. She elevated the images beyond straightforward advertising. One ad she photographed was titled "'The Years Lie in Wait for You.'" It was for anti-aging cream and in it, a spider in its web covers a woman's face like a veil. The woman looks mysterious, touching her face and staring off into the distance. Over time, Dora's work became more absurdist and dreamlike. Dora would splice unlikely objects together into one image. She would also scratch, paint over, or corrode negatives with acid to add texture to a photograph. In a piece titled, "'Untitled Hand Shell,'" a human hand sits like a slug inside a curled seashell. It's resting in the sand while a storm surges in the background. In the mid 1930s, Dora met Pablo Picasso. He was 25 years her senior and was well-regarded and intimidating. But Dora was independent and assertive. The two developed both a romantic relationship and an artistic one. They spent hours together in each other's studios and made portraits of one another. Dora claimed Picasso's decision to paint his famous mural, Gernika, in black and white was based on her photography. In 1937, Dora documented the making of Gernika in a series of 28 photographs. It was no easy feat, as the mural measures 25 feet long and 11 feet high. Picasso encouraged Dora to return to painting, and she did. Like Picasso, she used cubist techniques, showing single objects in disjointed ways from multiple perspectives. Also like Picasso, her works were less colorful and more abstract throughout World War II, encapsulating the sense of chaos and fear in occupied France. The next period of Dora's life was a difficult one. In 1945, she had a nervous breakdown. She was hospitalized and treated with electric shock therapy. A year later, her friend and fellow artist, Noush Elouar, unexpectedly collapsed and died while the pair was eating lunch. After that, Dora's relationship with Picasso ended. Dora withdrew from the artistic communities in Paris and did not exhibit any work for almost 25 years. Still, she continued to create, experimenting with painting and photography. She bought a house in southern France and split her time between Paris and Provence for the duration of her life. In 1990, her work was shared with the world once again at an exhibition at Marcel Fleiss' prestigious Galerie 1900-2000 in Paris. Dora passed away on July 16, 1997 in Paris. Her home in Minherbe is now a retreat for writers and artists. All month, we're highlighting muses. For more information, check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow. SPEAKER_06: AT&T and Verizon lure you in with their best phone offers, only to lock you into a three-year phone contract, not at T-Mobile. Now, with T-Mobile's best Go 5G plans, upgrade when you want. Every year or every two, you decide. Visit T-Mobile.com to take charge of your upgrades. SPEAKER_08: No place, no one, no story is off limits, and you'll always learn something new. It's time for 60 Minutes. New episode airs Sunday, September 24th on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. 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