Portrait De Dora Maar Analysis - 732 Words

In Portrait de Dora Maar, Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso used oil on canvas and surrealist styles to represent his lover, Dora Maar. Picasso’s admiration of Maar is reflected in this art, using the colors of the world in her face, and showing her in a whole new light. In the year of 1937 in which this painting was created, was a very creative, yet troubling time in Picasso’s life. Portrait de Dora Marr portrays a young women important to Picasso at the time, accentuates a sharp contrast between vivid and deep colors, and represents the emotion brought to Picasso due to the turmoil in France. The subject of this painting is Dora Maar, a surrealist photographer from Argentina. Picasso and Maar met within a surrealist circle in†¦show more content†¦The whole element of the painting is very distorted and unrealistic looking, shown by her geometrically and oddly proportioned body. The use of different perspectives gives off the idea of Maar having more than one personality, or having a complicated mindset. The background behind Maar shows a confined and empty room. On the walls are horizontal and vertical lines against a white wallpaper. The room gives off an impression of a very lonely and cruel space, maybe represented by her mental state. Potrait of Dora Maar has a deeper meaning and story behind it, reflecting emotions brought on from a war the two lovers witnessed. Picasso lived in Royan, France at the time Potrait of Dora Maar was created with Dora Maar in an apartment. They were living in the outbreak of World War II, and they had witnessed bombings and killings of the Spanish civil war as well. Specifically the brutal bombing of Guernica, a small city, had deeply effected him. He even created a painting named Guernica as a result of it, in which Dora Maar helped out on by documenting work on it. Picasso was also a witness to the Nazi occupation of France during the second World War, and had close friends of his die in concentration camps. The war had also had a great effect on Picasso’s political views. The violence had â€Å"turned Picasso vehemently against war†¦he joined the communist party. Due to his political views, he was not allowed to go to Spain or publicly display his work.† (Encyclo pedia of