Dora Maar
Painter and Surrealist photographer. This biography, written under the direction of Victoria Combalía and illustrated with the artist's works and archives from the Dora Maar Estate, traces the life and artistic journey of Dora Maar.
1907
On November 22, Henriette Théodora Markovitch was born at the Tarnier maternity clinic at 89 Rue d’Assas in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Her mother, Louise Julie Voisin (1877–1942), runs a fashion boutique, and her father, Joseph Markovitch (1874–1969), of Croatian origin, is an architect.
Birth certificate of Dora Maar.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1910
The family relocates to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her father, an architect, receives numerous commissions.
Dora Maar and her father in Argentina, 1916.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1915 - 1920
The young Dora splits her time between France and Argentina. She attended the Casto Munito school in Buenos Aires and the Lycée Molière in Paris.
Class photo, Collège Molière in Paris. Dora Maar is in the center.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1920
Return to France with her mother. She and her cousins spend their vacations in Royan, on the Atlantic coast.
Dora Maar (left) on vacation, Royan, 1920.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1923
Dora finishes her studies at the Lycée Molière (Paris) and obtained her secondary school certificate. She decides to embark on a course of artistic studies.
Dora Maar’s secondary school certificate, 1923.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1923 - 1926
She joins the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and its section reserved for women, the Comité des Dames, located at 6 Rue Beethoven (16th arrondissement). She becomes close with Jacqueline Lamba, as well as Marianne and Marie-Rose Clouzot, daughters of the curator of the Palais Galliera, Henri Clouzot.
Dora Maar, student at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, 1926 (photographer unknown).
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1927
She refines her painting technique at the Académie Julian and at the studio of Cubist painter André Lhote. She also enrolls in the École Technique de Photographie et de Cinématographie of the City of Paris. Emmanuel Sougez encourages her to pursue photography.
The journal Le Photographe announces the opening of the École Technique de Photographie et Cinématographie, October 5, 1926.
Courtesy of ENS Louis-Lumière.
1928
She visits her father in Buenos Aires.
She meets the film set designer Pierre Kéfer, who would become her future business partner.
Pierre Kéfer, Self-portrait, undated.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1929
She begins a romantic relationship with Louis Chavance, which she would eventually end in 1935.
Louis Chavance, in the 1930s.
1930
She publishes travel photographs in La Revue Nouvelle. During this period, she meets Brassaï and Man Ray.
Dora Maar, ID photo, c. 1930.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1931
She goes into partnership with Pierre Kéfer and adopts the name Dora Maar (a diminutive of Théodora) to distinguish herself. She publishes her first photomontage in Bravo: Le mensuel de Paris (still under the name Dora Markovitch).
Photomontage by Dora Maar in Bravo: Le mensuel de Paris, no. 30, June 1931, p. 26.
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
1932
Official opening of the "Kéfer-Dora Maar" photography studio, located at 45 bis Boulevard Richard Wallace in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The studio has already completed numerous projects: fashion photography, portraits, and advertisements.
Archives Commerciales de France, May 16–18, 1932.
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
1933
She becomes associated with the Groupe Octobre (led by the poet Jacques Prévert), a left-wing agitprop theater troupe. She also meets the poet Paul Éluard. She travels to Spain, where she produces a significant series of street photographs, particularly in Barcelona and Tossa de Mar.
Dora Maar, Blind Musicians, Barcelona, c. 1933.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Estate.
1934
Dora Maar carries out numerous advertising projects, through which she perfects her photomontage technique. She draws closer to the Surrealist group by signing the Appel à la lutte [Call to Struggle], a political manifesto inviting artists and writers to take a stand against Fascism. She has an affair with Georges Hugnet. She travels to London and exhibits her photographs at the Van der Berghe Gallery. She participats in the exhibition La publicité par la photographie [Advertising through Photography] at the Galerie de la Pléiade, alongside Laure Albin Guillot, Ilse Bing, Man Ray, and Sougez, among others. She opens her studio at 29, rue d’Astorg in Paris.
Arts et métiers graphiques, issue no. 42 "Publicité 32", August 15, 1934, pp. 10-11.
On the right, an advertising project by the Kéfer-Dora Maar studio for Pétrole Hahn.
summer 1934
In August, the wedding of her friend Jacqueline Lamba to André Breton, the central figure of the Surrealist group. A week later, Maria Benz (known as Nusch) and Paul Éluard also marry. She participates in several photography exhibitions, including the Salon International de la Photographie in Paris, and is published in the Revue française de photographie et de cinématographie.
Dora Maar, Jacqueline Lamba with an arrow, c. 1934
1935
She participates in several photography exhibitions in Paris. From May 11 to 21, she exhibited The Simulator (Le Simulateur) at the Exposición Surrealista at the Ateneo de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, organized by André Breton and Benjamin Péret. She spends her summer holidays with André Breton and Jacqueline Lamba.
She joins the anti-fascist group Contre-Attaque, led by Georges Bataille, whom she had met in the early 1930s. From October 13 to 27, she exhibits Interior (Intérieur) at the Surrealist Exhibition at the community exhibition hall in La Louvière, Belgium. She also works as the set photographer for Jean Renoir's film, Le Crime de Monsieur Lange.
October 7, 1935, leaflet by the Contre-Attaque group, signed by Dora Maar:
1935 - 1936
She produces a series of Surrealist photomontages, including 29, rue d'Astorg, Onirique (Dreamlike), Silence, and The Pretender (Le Simulateur).
Dora Maar, Portrait d'Ubu, 1936, coll. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1936
On January 7, Picasso is introduced to her by Paul Éluard at the press screening of the film Le Crime de Monsieur Lange. She exhibits Portrait of Ubu (Portrait d'Ubu), The Pretender (Le Simulateur), and Dawn (Aube) at the New Burlington Galleries for the International Surrealist Exhibition in London. She appears for the first time in Picasso's work.
Catalogue for the International Surrealist Exhibition, London, 1936.
summer 1936
Dora Maar stays at the Hôtel Vaste Horizon in Mougins, on the French Riviera, with friends Paul and Nusch Éluard, Man Ray, Valentine and Roland Penrose, as well as Pablo Picasso, with whom she begins a romance.
Dora Maar, Pablo Picasso in his Wicker Chair, Mougins, summer 1936.
late 1936
She participates in the first institutional exhibition dedicated to Surrealism: Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, organized by Alfred Barr, from December 9, 1936, to January 17, 1937. She exhibits The Pretender (Le Simulateur) and Dawn (Aube) there.
Installation view of Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, au MoMA, New York, 1936
early 1937
Dora Maar helps Picasso find a new studio. The latter had received a commission for a mural for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Exposition internationale des arts et des techniques in Paris. Through her mediation, he moves into the studio at 7 rue des Grands-Augustins, known as the 'Grenier Barrault' (Barrault’s Attic) because the actor Jean-Louis Barrault used to rehearse there and had occasionally lent it to the Contre-Attaque group.
Dora provides technical assistance to Picasso for the creation of his rayograms. Inauguration of the Gradiva Gallery, managed by André Breton. Each letter of the name corresponds to a female member of the Surrealist circle—the "D" specifically representing Dora.
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Dora Maar, Action at the Gradiva Gallery, Paris, 1937.
1937
Picasso begins painting Guernica in May. Dora Maar photographs the painting’s progress. She is the subject of numerous paintings and, for her part, returns to the practice of painting. She paints portraits of Picasso as well as her own versions of the portraits he had painted of her.
She participates in the Surrealist Exhibition at the Salon Nippon in Tokyo.
She spends another summer in Mougins alongside the Éluards, Man Ray, Lee Miller, Jacqueline Lamba, and Picasso.
Dora Maar, Picasso standing, working on Guernica in his studio, Paris, 1937.
1938
Dora Maar meets Wifredo Lam, who also becomes close with Picasso. Another stay in Mougins with Picasso and the Éluards.
Wifredo Lam, Femme dans un intérieur, 1938.
Formerly in the collection of Dora Maar.
1939
Solo exhibition of her photographs at the Galerie de Beaune (Paris). She stays in Antibes with Picasso and Jacqueline Lamba.
Departure for Royan with Picasso as soon as the war broke out. Dora Maar and Picasso stay at the Hôtel du Tigre, while Marie-Thérèse Walter and Maya Picasso reside nearby at the Villa Gerbier. Jacqueline Lamba and Aube stay in Royan for a few days. This is an intense period for the creation of drawings and paintings.
Dora Maar, Four faces, on a letter-headed paper Le Régent, Royan, 1939 - 1940.
1940
Round trips between occupied Paris and Royan. Jacqueline Lamba and Aube Breton visit Dora Maar.
Final return to Paris in August, where Dora Maar and Picasso would spend the rest of the war. They socialize with Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the intellectuals who had remained in Paris. Her father departs for South America.
Dora Maar, Aube Breton (daughter of André Breton) with her mother Jacqueline Lamba, Royan, 1940.
1941
An intense period for the creation of paintings and drawings. Portraits disappeared, giving way to Parisian landscapes and still lifes—symbols of confinement and deprivation.
Dora Maar, Still life with a lamp, Paris, 1941, coll. Centre Pompidou
1942
Maar moves her studio from the Rue d’Astorg to a studio-apartment at 6 Rue de Savoie in the 6th arrondissement, just a few meters away from Picasso’s studio. Her mother passes away on October 17.
Dora Maar, The Apartment on the Rue de Savoie with Kazbek, Pablo Picasso’s Dog, Paris, circa 1942.
1943
Creates numerous Cubist still lifes. Her relationship with Picasso deteriorates. He meets Françoise Gilot during a dinner at Le Catalan.
Dora Maar, The Cage, Paris, July 18, 1943.
1944
Dora Maar participates in the reading of Pablo Picasso's play, Le Désir attrapé par la queue, in which she playes the role of l'Angoisse maigre. She exhibits her paintings for the first time at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher (Paris). She then exhibits two still lifes at the Salon d'Automne, and landscapes at the Galerie René Drouin. She meets James Lord.
Exhibition flyer for Dora Maar, Vera Pagava at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, 1944.
1945
Dora Maar exhibits at the Salon d’Automne, at the Galerie René Drouin, and then at the Galerie Ariel. She suffers a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized. She undergoes electroshock therapy and was treated by Dr. Jacques Lacan.
With Picasso’s help, she acquires a house in Ménerbes, in the Luberon region.
Catalogue of the Salon d'Automne 1945,.
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
1946
Sudden death of Nusch Éluard. Solo exhibition at the Galerie Pierre (Paris). Maar and Picasso break off permanently, as he had begun a relationship with the young painter Françoise Gilot.
Exhibition flyer for Dora Maar at the Galerie Pierre, Paris, 1946.
1947
Dora Maar participates in the group exhibition Still-Life by Seven French Contemporaries at the Galerie Georges de Braux in Philadelphia.
Publication of Paul Éluard’s collection of poems, Le Temps déborde (Time Overflows), featuring portraits by Dora Maar and Man Ray.
Catalogue of the exhibition Still Life by Seven French Contemporaries, at Georges de Braux inc., Philadelphie, 1947.
1950's
The landscapes surrounding Ménerbes, where she spends part of the year, are the subject of a new pictorial cycle.
Dora Maar, Landscape of the South of France, undated.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives
1951
Designs the sets for the three-act play Monsieur Bob’le by Georges Schéhadé at the Théâtre de La Huchette.
Booklet of Georges Schehadé's play, Monsieur Bob'le, published in the theatrical supplement of the weekly magazine Opéra. (détail)
1952
She socializes with Marie-Laure de Noailles and Lise Deharme. Maar meets Dom Jean de Monléon, prior at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie-de-Paris. He becomes her spiritual mentor, as she has turned toward the Catholic religion since her nervous breakdown.
Dora Maar, Dom Jean de Monléon, circa 1952.
Courtesy Archives Dora Maar.
1953
She exhibits the Portrait of Alice B. Toklas, painted in 1952, at the Salon de Mai. Alice Babette Toklas is an American novelist and the partner of Gertrude Stein.
Michel Sima, Dora Maar and her painting Portrait of Alice B. Toklas, Paris, circa 1952.
1954
She meets Picasso at the home of critic Douglas Cooper, an encounter she records in a notebook. She socializes with the painter Nicolas de Staël, who also owns a property in Ménerbes.
Dora Maar, notebook. Transcript of a conversation with Picasso, October 27, 1954.
1957
Two exhibitions of landscapes at Heinz Berggruen (Paris), her first solo exhibitions in 10 years.
Catalogue of the exhibition Dora Maar. Paysages, à la galerie Berggruen, Paris, 1957.
1958
She socializes with Balthus, Leonor Fini, and Gaston Gallimard. Solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries (London), where 33 landscape paintings are presented.
Dora Maar’s photo shoot for the exhibition catalogue Dora Maar at the Leicester Galleries in London, 1958. Photographs by Douglas Glass.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives
1966 - 1971
She creates numerous studies of church stained-glass windows, which inspire a new cycle of geometric paintings.
Dora Maar, Geometrical composition, circa 1967.
1970's
Still a member of the Société du Salon d’Automne, she continues to paint and draw. She experiments with prints and decalcomania on paper.
Dora Maar’s membership card for the Salon d’Automne, 1970s.
Courtesy of the Dora Maar Archives.
1980's
New photographic experiments: scratching old negatives, photograms.
Dora Maar, Experiment on negative (Woman with hands in her hair), circa 1935/1980.
1990
Exhibition of old paintings at the Galerie 1900-2000, directed by Marcel Fleiss.
Catalogue of the exhibition Dora Maar, at galerie 1900-2000, Paris, 1990.
1995
Dora Maar, Fotógrafa retrospective at Bancaixa in Valencia (Spain), organized by Victoria Combalía. This is her first institutional retrospective.
Catalogue of the exhibition Dora Maar, Fotógrafa à Bancaixa à Valence (Espagne), 1995.
1997
On July 16th, Dora Maar passes away at the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris. She is buried in the Clamart cemetery.
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Commemorative plaque on Dora Maar’s former house in Ménerbes.