Dora Maar” was a pseudonym for Henrietta Theodora Markovitch, who was Picasso’s lover at the time. She was a French photographer, painter, and poet. They met briefly in late 1935/1936. They were formally introduced through a mutual friend, Paul Eduard. When they started dating, he was 55 years old, and she was 29. Their relationship lasted for nine years. It was very back and forth due to Picasso’s relationship with the mother of his child. Henrietta was a continuous subject for Picasso’s paintings, but also his anger. Throughout the relationship he abused her emotionally and physically. Oddly, he painted her misery. This particular image has a lot of underlying messages which are universal and personal. Universally, Picasso wanted to express women’s feelings towards themselves. The painting expresses self esteem, and the duality to it. Sometimes one can be really confident, other times lacking it. Status was also heavily tied to self esteem. Those who had a better footing in society were more confident than those who didn’t. Picasso tried to depict these struggles in his paintings of Henrietta. 

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/maar-dora/life-and-legacy/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Dora_Maar