Dora Maar

"In black and white...

Guernica, Pablo Picasso, and Dora Maar"

Dora Maar

Painter, photographer, and Picasso’s “private muse,” Dora Maar photographed Picasso creating the famous black and white anti-war mural, Guernica

Date of Play 1939: Dora  had captured with her camera each modification of the creation of Guernica. Her goal was to “to preserve photographically not the stages but the metamorphoses of a picture.”

About Guernica: For months Picasso had been procrastinating on painting the commissioned mural for the Spanish Republic’s pavilion in the 1937 Universal Exposition.  The official theme of the Paris Exposition was a celebration of modern technology. Organizers hoped this vision of a bright future would jolt the nations out of the economic depression and social unrest of the thirties. The Exposition opened in May.

On 26 April 1937, the defenseless Basque town of Guernica in Spain was devastated by an air raid bombing attack by the German Luftwaffe squadron known as the Condor Legion

The extent of the damage, death and destruction in Guernica was first revealed the next day by George Steer, the Times of London newspaper reporter covering the Spanish Civil War. Picasso was inspired. The completed Geurnica was hung in the Spanish Pavilion mid June.

“In Black and White”: Presentation script is adapted for both student and adult audiences.

Presentation includes an interactive opportunity for the audience to exercise their critical appreciation of the great piece of art :Guernica. (Does not reference relationship complications of Dora and Picasso)

"Dora Maar – Picasso’s Muse": Presentation script is for adult audiences.

This characterization reveals a woman who passionately loved a genius. She tells of how, as a professional photographer, she chronicled the creation of Picasso’s masterpiece GUERNICA. (Does reference the complications of Dora's relationship with the monstrous genius of Picasso.)