Dora Versus Picasso
by Cecil Jenkins
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Pub Date 3 Mar 2014 | Archive Date 2 May 2014
Troubador Publishing Ltd. | Matador
Description
Cecil Jenkins’ historical novel gives readers an insight into legendary painter Pablo Picasso's relationship with his lover Dora Maar… the most significant of both of their careers.
“Studies of Picasso have often underplayed the important role of the beautiful and intelligent photographer and painter Dora Maar, the only woman to have understood and stood up to him,” Cecil claims.
Dora Versus Picasso fictionalises the life of this successful young Surrealist painter and photographer. Dora is said to be a ‘tough cookie’ – as she needs to be, in a society where women have no vote and an art world where female artists can survive only as the nude model/mistress or muse of a male painter.
Dora is initially wary of the advances of the older Picasso, who is reputed to be hard on women. He not only has a wife and son, but also a young mistress that he has kept hidden for many years. But as Dora begins to understand the trauma and inner loneliness underlying his painting and his cynicism, she comes to love Picasso. She influences him politically and they work closely together on the famous mural Guernica. But, while he admires and needs her, she has to stand up to his self-destructive need to test her... As the strains of war increase, their relationship becomes increasingly fraught. Can she emerge from their shattered relationship intact?
“I have developed a great sympathy for Dora, whose importance to Picasso has not been sufficiently recognized, and who exemplifies the difficult position of women even within the would-be liberated Surrealist movement,” says Cecil, of his inspiration for the novel.
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781783067862 |
| PRICE | £3.99 (GBP) |
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 47558
I have waited for this book! Having been fascinated by Dora Maar, it was wonderful to finally read more about the relationship she had with Picasso. Even more so, it was good to learn more about her work as a painter and a photographer, but also how very strong and intelligent she was.
Susan K, Reviewer
A slightly edited version of my Goodreads review: Originally, I planned to rate this a weak four, but in reality, it's a strong three. I realize the book shouldn't suffer because it's not my kind of book, but for that very reason - because it didn't make itself my kind of book - I'm knocking it down a bit.
It didn't make itself my kind of book, because I couldn't get into the story for its own sake. I found myself wandering off, wondering how the author knew these things - did someone keep such an extensive diary of Dora and Picasso sightings, that they knew what was eaten at a particular meal? Where were all of these events recorded? Of course, I especially wondered those things during descriptions of Dora and Picasso's intimacies. And then to make matters worse, the internet, which has already provided me with a certain degree of reader ADD, allowed me to do a multitude of searches on the art and photography of Dora Maar, look for photos of the people mentioned, etc.
Like many my age, I have a passing knowledge of Picasso, even though I'm not a student of art. Who could have grown up through the 50s and 60s and not have been exposed to his art, or his photo in a magazine? This book did much to further my dear mother's description of Picasso as beastly and warped. However, I had never heard of Dora Maar (as I said, not art-educated)and I wanted to know more about a strong woman who not only survived a relationship with Picasso, but remained strong in an extremely difficult era.
A nice historical perspective, a good visual description of various areas of France, but overall, an undefinable lack of the dynamic I was hoping for. Perhaps this was an accurate description of Dora and her relationship with Picasso, but I wanted more of Dora - stronger, bolder, more intense.
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