Drawing In The Muse

After Picasso's Marie Therese 

Picasso said: "Copying another is not only helpful

to any artist, but a nesessity."

I have often copied Picasso's portraits of his muses

to "feel" his lines, to "see" his palette,

to "sense" his passion.

Last spring  there was a special exhibition of Picasso's

greatest muse, Marie Therese, at the Gagosian Gallery.

"Picasso and Marie Therese: L'amour fou".

I would have loved to see the exhibit first hand, but have seen the photos

and read the reviews online.

I was unfamiliar with many of the paintings

appropriated by Diana Widmaier Picasso, the granddaughter

of Pablo and Marie Therese, and I loved getting

"to know" them.

 Photo of Marie Therese in 1927.

Marie Therese Widmaier was the French mistress and model

of Picasso from 1927 to 1935. She was the mother of his daughter

Maya Widmaier Picasso.

This is what the art reviewer, Jerry Saltz, had to say about Marie Therese as muse:

"She inspires Picasso to infuse his art with color, pattern,

decoration, arabesques, solidity, lyricism, gentleness and sensuality......

which all lead to Picasso's arguably most powerful work:

the faces and figures, anguish and ectasies, that would become

"The Weeping Woman" and "Guernica", in which

Marie Therese appears three times.

In my next post, I will share paintings and digital work I've made

of the master himself.