Picasso and his Muses: Wives,Goddesses and Doormats

Femme Couchée (1932)

A three hour Study Day by art historian and BEA lecturer Prof Maria Chester,analysing the work of Picasso in relation to his muses.

Paul is dead, Picasso is eternal. We will analyse his oeuvre through the emotions that connected him to the women in his life. Some of them lived with Picasso, some of them lived for Picasso. The research was based on diaries and books written by his partners as well as by his descendants.

Format: We will break for coffee after the first lecture, and break for lunch at 12.30 pm for 30 mins. Hot drinks will be provided. You are welcome to bring a packed lunch and eat in the Conference room.

Overview : Pablo Picasso could be identified with the Minotaur who needed to be fed with the flesh of a virgin. In the first lecture we will examine his life and passions. The second session will look more deeply at his love affairs and marriage from 1900 to 1943 and the third session will cover his partners from 1943 to 1973. Some of his partners were fine artists (Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot), others came from nobility (Olga Khlokhova), others were just young and fresh (Marie-Thérése Walter, Jacqueline Roque). He must have been a true charmer of women. Clever, intelligent women lost their senses over Picasso, others committed suicide, and only one not only survived his spell but later got married and had a child. It is astonishing that the older he became, the younger his partners had to be.

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