The two faces of Pablo Picasso: extraordinary genius or misogynistic narcissist.

I consider myself as an art lover, especially of the Impressionists, and I have had a visceral love for Monet since childhood, I have always observed and looked at Picasso's works with curiosity, but never fully understood them. Every time I stood in front of one of his paintings, I cocked my head to the side, squinting as if that gesture would make me better understand what I was looking at. Although I did not fully understand his work, I was always fascinated by it. However, I have only ever unanimously recognised Picasso as the master of cubism, without ever delving into his life, and the man behind those paintings, so strange to my eyes, as I did with Monet.

When you research Picasso, a lot of information comes up which might irritate, offend, disgust and horrify a woman.

Picasso's works speak for themselves, and he attributed his vast repertoire to the various women, in this case 'muses', of his debauched life. His troubled love affairs, which always began in a pleasant and paradoxically normal way, which could be seen initially in his colourful, joyful paintings with intimate and graceful portraits, almost always ended in a tragic and complicated way resulting in gloomy, dark and melancholic paintings. You could say that his relationships are reflected in his art.

Yes, because Picasso had many women in his life, some wives, others just lovers, but that life also included sisters, daughters and grandchildren (also men), people so different from each other but with one thing in common. They were all swept up in Picasso's life and were swallowed up by it.

Seduced, bewitched, possessed. Accomplices at first and victims in the end. Some died by suicide (even a nephew), others fell into poverty and despair, humiliated, betrayed, forgotten.

Picasso was definitely an extraordinary genius, but he was irrepressible, controversial, restless, overwhelming, self-centred and ravenous, and sometimes, you can read ruthless, even. Even his own granddaughter, Marina Picasso, after falling ill with anorexia and did years of psychoanalysis because of the cumbersome and negative figure of terror she had towards her grandfather, she wrote a book in 2002 describing the artist as 'a man who has the face of a sadistic vampire, who drains the energies of others, and feeds on them for his art and then throws the carcasses away, with contempt. The heat of fire and the frost of ice: to manufacture beauty he sucked the souls of the world and of people, and then made masterpieces out of them so that other people would die in him'. This is a chilling description.

Picasso had, as we have already mentioned, several relationships, seven of them openly declared, throughout his career, with Fernande Olivier, Eva Gouel, Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot and Jacqueline Roque. His artistic and creative expression was characterised and defined by erotic and emotional aspects because while his life and relationships were reflected in his art, his paintings often depicted sexism and misogyny. Olga was his first wife, a Russian dancer during the First World War by whom he also had his first son Paulo. After his birth, things really deteriorated between them and he started dating the then 17-year-old French model Marie-Thérèse, with whom he had a daughter, Maya. She was his mistress and he moved her into the building opposite his own where he lived with his wife, a terrible psychological torture for Olga. Marie-Thérèse, on the other hand, was forced to stay locked up there, at his disposal like many of his women, prisoners in the house, forced to dress 'chastely' because of his suffocating jealousy while he continued to date everyone.

Nudo reclinato - Marie-Thérèse

Ph. Credits

There are many paintings portraying Marie-Thérèse as she was his new muse and all his compositions represented expressions of 'sexual joy and surrealism', in fact her body was rearranged according to his abstract fantasies with sexual organs in place of eyes and eyes between her legs making the girl appear almost as a hybrid and erotic creature in an almost playful way, but always recognisable by her unmistakable blonde lock of hair.

Ritratto di Dora Maar

Ph. Credits

His relationship with the French model also ended when he met Dora, with whom he was to have a 9-year relationship. Her portraits, unlike Marie's, are more turbulent and intense. The relationship with her also became unpleasant as Picasso was incapable of living with a woman of the same cultural level as he could with her being a photographer, so much so that he drove her to madness, destroying her emotionally and you can see this in her portraits, done with acid colours to represent her anguish.

“He is not a man, he is a disease” - Dora Maar-

The only woman who went against Picasso's mentality, not tolerating his mistreatment and abuse but managing to live an independent life was Francoise Gilot, and Paloma was born to her. Leaving him, however, made him so angry that in return she received a cigarette burn on her face.

"Every time I leave a woman, I should set her on fire. Destroy the woman, destroy the past she represents." –Pablo Picasso-

Another victim was his second wife Jacqueline who, like Marie-Thérèse, took her own life because of him.

Gilot said in an interview that the artist believed there were two types of women, 'goddesses and doormats'.

In fact, as his niece describes in the book quoted above, he submitted women to his animal sexuality, tamed them, bewitched them, swallowed them and finally literally crushed them on his canvas. He would spend many nights extracting their essence and then disposing of their bodies once they were drained of blood.

Ph. Credits

Many people say that art should be separated from the artist, or perhaps it is more correct to say the man from the artist, but is this really possible?

Aren't the paintings of an artist like Picasso important and unique precisely because they are Picasso's?

It is true, it is said that every human being and everything they have done, everything they have become, is the result of every single experience they have had, whether positive or negative. Probably without Picasso's women and the relationships with them, we would never have art with the unmistakable and distinct style that this controversial artist showed us, but is it justifiable?

Is it right to sacrifice a person's pain and life to get one more painting?

Should gender-based violence be ignored to protect the face and reputation of men like Picasso?

If we think of John Lennon, a genius and musical artist we all know, he wrote wonderful award-winning songs, yet he beat his wife and his son and he was addicted to drugs.

I don't think any kind of art, no matter how extraordinary it is, can justify abuse or misogyny. However, we do have a choice, and a head to think with. Certainly Picasso is not a person to be taken as an example in some aspects, and he had a very questionable way of life, but to appreciate an artist at 360° also means to embrace him in the fullest sense, with merits and faults, both as an artist and as a person, even if with problems,

even though we may not share certain attitudes.

Ilaria Puddu

---