Pablo Picasso And Marie-Thérèse Walter: Between Classicism And Surrealism

Picasso once said, "It is my misfortune--and probably my delight--to use things as my passions tell me." And so he did, throughout his long life, across a stylistically pluralist oeuvre in which his amorous life could be traced through the lines of women's faces. For Picasso always used his lovers as his models (or his models as his lovers, depending on your point of view), and Marie-Thérèse Walter was no exception. Picasso met the 17-year-old in 1927, and she soon became his favorite model and muse, as well as his secret lover. Over the next ten years, Picasso intensified his sculptural and graphic work, stylistically ranging between classical and Surrealist, went through an acrimonious and unsuccessful divorce with his wife Olga, and fathered a daughter named Maya with Marie-Thérèse, who lived in the vain hope that one day Picasso would marry her. She hanged herself after his death. This publication, which features a multi-disciplinary selection of masterpieces by the artist, is the second in a series devoted to Picasso and Women; The Time with Françoise Gilot was the first.