Dora Maar

Dora Maar was a 20th century French artist and is considered to be one of the most significant Surrealist photographers. Maar’s work has been largely overshadowed by her role as a romantic partner and muse to the Pablo Picasso. Born Henrietta Theodora Markovitch to a French mother and Croatian father, Maar spent most of her childhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her father worked as an architect. In 1926, she moved to Paris to pursue a career in the arts at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, the École de Photographie, the Académie Julian, and the atelier of André Lhote.
 

In the early 1930s, Maar shortened her given name and began working as a commercial photographer, concentrating on fashion and advertising. During this period, Maar established herself within the European Avant-garde, associating with prominent intellectuals such as Paul Éluard, Man Ray, André Breton, and Jean Cocteau. In 1935, Maar became connected with Surrealism, adopting the group’s dreamlike characteristics in her photography. As a member of the Surrealist group, Maar utilized inventive photomontage techniques to create unearthly compositions, which became iconic to the movement. 

In 1936, Maar entered into a relationship with Picasso and, at his insistence, turned her towards painting in a Cubist manner. Picasso painted Maar several times throughout their decade-long relationship, most famously in Dora Maar Seated (1937) and Weeping Woman (1937), among others. Maar frequently exhibited throughout their relationship, but alongside her artistic success, Picasso subjected Maar to extensive mental and psychological abuse. In 1946, following their separation, Maar suffered from a nervous breakdown, which resulted in three years of hospitalization and the administration of electric shock therapy. 

After her recovery, Maar moved from Paris to Provence and concentrated on painting still life scenes and landscapes until her death in July 1997. Today, Maar is represented in international collections and there have been many exhibitions of her work, such as at the Haus der Kunst, Munich; the Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille; the Centre Cultural Tecla Sala, Barcelona; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the Tate Modern, London.