Duality within Dora Maar

Picasso’s relationship with “Dora”

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 

The Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War took place from 1936-1939, it was between the nationalists and republicans of Spain. A main cause of the war was that the Spanish democracy was failing its people and not fulfilling their needs. Some saw this war as a precursor to World War II, which it very likely was. Nationalists were more conservative and traditional; republicans were socialist. General Francisco Franco became a prevalent nationalistic figure within the war. He deployed nationalist troops to seize cities of Spain. The war had many different layers to it, class differences, religious struggle, dictatorship vs democracy, and fascism vs communism. Again the idea of duality presents itself. There are always multiple perspectives when it comes to understanding the several layers of war. The nationalists ultimately won the war, yet there was still a political division and power struggle within the country. The war took place during the art exposition in Paris. This attracted more attention to controversial art. Picasso did many pieces on war and conflict, and Dora’s portrait can be interpreted as such. It can be seen as a display of anxiety in the Spanish people as well as those around the world.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spanish-civil-war-breaks-out 

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

Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dan la Vie Moderne

The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dan la Vie Monderne was an art exhibit that was held from May to Nov of 1937 in Paris. The exhibit was filled with many pavilions which represented different countries around the world. Each pavilion had different pieces of art displayed, some conveying underlying political messages. The German pavilion for example, was decorated with an eagle and a swastika— symbols of the Nazi authorial. The rest of the pavilion had art honoring Nazi Germany and their “achievements.” Facing the German pavilion was the Soviet pavilion. Further illustrating the conflict between the two countries. The exhibit showed lots of dualism: Paris vs its provinces, socialism vs capitalism, fascism vs democracy, etc. Picasso’s “Guernica” was a piece on the terror of war, and was displayed in the Spanish pavilion. “Guernica” was a heart wrenching piece for many due to the violence from the Spanish Civil War. Many pieces in the exhibit gave insight on what was going on in the world. Due to his paintings becoming more renowned and recognizable Picasso started to gain more popularity. This recognition led to more anticipation for his art pieces. Although “Dora Maar” wasn’t in the exposition, it gave more exposure to Picasso. 

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

http://www.worldexhibition.org/the_first_worldexpo/1937-paris/ 

 Explanation: 

I elaborated background on each of these events because it is helpful to understand how influential small things can be in a sociohistorical context. Picasso painted Dora in 1937 mainly because they were dating but also because he wanted her beauty to be seen. Although he painted her abstractly, I think that there is a lot of substance within her portraits. Picasso later paints Dora as the Weeping Woman, a woman continuously depicted mourning. As stated before, there is duality in Dora’s face. She appears to have two faces that seem relatively apathetic. One is looking directly at the audience, and the other is almost looking inward. As previously stated, the face looking towards the audience can be a universal reflection onto women. It makes a woman question her place in the world. What are they confined to and what can they do to break out of it? The eye looking inward is seen as self evaluation. As we look in, we start to see her true flaws and pain. The bars that surround her are the emotional and physical confinements experienced as a woman but also as Picasso’s partner. The exposition allows the audience to further understand that there are always multiple perspectives to one story. The war has similar implications, there were two sides to the war, each having their own sets of values and beliefs. The tumultuous relationship with Picasso shows the further duplexity of the painting. She loves him so she stays with him, despite him being terrible to her.