Pablo Picasso painted this work during the same year as his renowned Guernica and his Weeping Woman series – the same year he denounced the war of General Franco against the Spanish Republic as “a war of reaction: against the people, against liberty.” Thus, the political climate inspired a year of creative productivity for Picasso. These paintings are a direct address of human expressions of grief: the face of which in many of them is that of Dora Maar. This portrait is the prototype of the most famous of all the Weeping Woman paintings. Dora Maar was not only a Spanish speaker and surrealist photographer, but one of Picasso’s most intimate and intellectual lovers. By experimenting with an striking off-set profile combined with a disjunctive frontal view, Maar’s nose becomes an extension to the face. Through these elements, the far eye on her face is seen looking straight at us, evoking an intense yet intimate feeling via viewer. Additionally, Picasso’s cubist portrayal of Maar represents an emotional, profound sense of the frank presence of his lover. Maar looks directly at him, despite this being  impossible to do in her position. Through this, her presence transcends the physical. Apart from the twisted profile, she is emulating a classical pose, displaying herself as both elegant yet social.

SKU: 4080
Creator: Pablo Picasso
Date: 1939
Original Medium: oil on canvas
Original Size: 28 7/8 x 23 3/4 in.
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art
© Succession Picasso 2013