The portrait “Dora Maar and the Minotaur” dates from 1936. It shows the monster with the head of a man and the body of a bull raping a woman. In Greek mythology the monster eats children, but in his case Picasso he sexually abuses Dora Maar, his muse and then mistress. Sayings of the Spanish artist such as: “For me there are only two types of women: goddesses and doormats”, today in the MeToo era, would cause waves of outrage.

Picasso’s macho and sexist treatment of women is well known. Many books and articles have been published on the subject. However, the opinion about the Spanish painter changed after the emergence of the MeToo movement. One must ask how Picasso can be presented today, says Cécile Debret, director of the Picasso Museum in Paris. When she took up her duties, she found that Picasso’s aura had faded, especially in academic circles and among young people, she told the German News Agency.

Debret was appointed head of the Paris institution at the end of 2021. “Picasso not only displayed his masculinity, but also represented the act of love, often using the women in his life as models,” she explains. He conceived the myth of the Minotaur and directed sexual prowess. Today, however, this biographical aspect is disputed. A few weeks ago there was a conference in Lyon on the topic: “How can Picasso be viewed today?”

Re-examination of Picasso’s works

Like many museums, the Picasso Museum in Paris, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, is organizing a series of events… However, in addition to a chronological exhibition of his important works, the program also includes two exhibitions of contemporary artists who interpret Picasso’s new work. In this way, the African-American Faith Ringold refers, among other things, to the discrimination of black women, and Pierre Moignard deals with Picasso’s erotic designs.

The Spanish artist was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga and died at the age of 91 in Mougins, southern France. It holds an extremely important place in the history of 20th century art. He was the founder of cubism while he was also a great shaper of surrealism. He left behind a multidimensional work consisting of paintings, sketches, sculptures and ceramics. His most important works include the paintings “The Misses of Avignon” and “Guernica”. The work of the famous artist is inextricably linked to his numerous women as they were his muses. From rather calm compositions at the beginning of each relationship to distorted figures usually at the end of relationships.

Of the seven women who officially shared his life, two committed suicide and two suffered from depression. The only one who managed to leave him was Marie Therese Walter, who published a book in 1965 entitled “Life with Picasso”. In the book he describes himself as a moody man who made life difficult for those who shared it with him. “Every time I change wives, I have to burn the previous one. That’s how I’ll get rid of her. They won’t all be there to complicate my life,” says art historian Julie Bozac, referring to Picasso in the podcast series she started in 2019 about art and feminism.

Correlation of Picasso’s work with feminism

The reflection on Picasso and the feminist or female view of his work is an extremely timely debate that should not be ridiculed, explained the director of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, ​​Emmanuel Gougon, speaking to the French radio station “France Info”. She does not believe that Picasso was violent towards women. But it goes without saying that he was a man of his time, Andalusian and undoubtedly very seductive.

In June 2021 at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, ​​young female students of the School of Fine Arts caused a sensation when they appeared in front of the artist’s works wearing t-shirts that read “Picasso – Attacking Women”. Since then, Gougon has organized more and more seminars and conferences, in which the artist’s work is re-examined. A similar protest took place in 2018 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Artist and activist Emma Sulkowitz, for whom Picasso dismembered the female body in his Cubist paintings, was shown half-naked and with asterisks painted all over her body in front of a painting of “The Misses of Avignon”.