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The Weeping Woman

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The Weeping Woman
The Weeping Woman (Femme en pleurs), 26 October 1937 at the Tate Modern
Artist	Pablo Picasso
Year	26 October 1937
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	60 cm × 49 cm (23 ⅝ in × 19 ¼ in)
Location	Tate Modern, London

For the painting of a similar title by Rembrandt or his studio, see The Weeping Woman (Rembrandt).

The Weeping Woman is an oil on canvas painted by 20th century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in France in 1937. Picasso was a vocal opponent of the fascist regime run by Francisco Franco. The painting is used as a representation for the pain and suffering of the victims of the Spanish civil war as this painting is part of his series on the bombings of Guernica, it is also meant to represent the emotional pain that Women go through. It is from the cubist period of Picasso's career. This painting created on 26 October 1937, was the most elaborate of the series. Its dimensions are 60 х 49 cm, 23 ⅝ х 19 ¼ inches. It has been in the collection of the Tate Modern in London since 1987, and is currently located there.

Contents

• 1Dora Maar
• 2Other versions
• 3References
• 4External links

Dora Maar[edit]

Dora Maar was Picasso's mistress from 1936 until 1944. In the course of their relationship, Picasso painted her in a number of guises, some realistic, some benign, others tortured or threatening. Picasso explained:

"For me she's the weeping woman. For years I've painted her in tortured forms, not through sadism, and not with pleasure, either; just obeying a vision that forced itself on me. It was the deep reality, not the superficial one."

"Dora, for me, was always a weeping woman....And it's important, because women are suffering machines."

Style and Meaning

Style

This painting is in the analytical cubist style which makes the painting have a flattened look. The piece also carries an anti-war perspective that became common of Picasso's WW2 era work. There are not traditional shading or modelling used and this is to create the lack of depth. The painting is also done in a collage style with very jagged features to make it look like it was painted from several angles layered on top of each other. The color scheme is unusual for Picasso who frequently uses a monochrome pallet but on this painting uses every major color including red, yellow, and blue. Meaning

The most traditional interpretation relates to the Spanish civil war and the sadness and despair conveyed by the weeping woman represents the suffering of the victims of the war. Picasso was very opposed to the war and moved to Paris to avoid it. Some art critics have different opinions though, one being that it is a reference to the suffering of the virgin Mary, this is a very common theme that is done in Spanish art and it is subject matter that Picasso has referenced before. Another theory is that the painting is used to depict the pain that Dora Maar went through during the course of her relationship with Picasso as well as representing the pain that all women feel.

Guernica: A series

This painting is the final painting done by Picasso to showcase the events of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica. Picasso was impacted by the event as it was one of the more famous atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil war due to bombings from the German air force after General Francisco Franco asked Hitler to do so. Picasso's first and most notable painting in the series *Guernica* shows two weeping women as well. The first is seen sobbing and cowering away from a burning building and the other woman is lamenting the death of her child. Picasso would decide to focus on the subject of crying women in the next few paintings he did in this series as he thought it was an appropriate symbol for the suffering of innocent people caused by the war. Picasso believed the war was extremely unjust and had a famous encounter with the gestapo. Upon seeing a photo of "Guernica" an SS officer approached Picasso and asked him if he was the one who did it, Picasso responded "no, you did". Painting Dora Maar was significant because she had done work as a photographer who captured publicized images of the Guernica bombings. This painting along with Guernica and others in the series were put out on an international tour by Picasso to publicize the events of Guernica.

The first time the painting was displayed was when it was brought along an international tour and was first shown in England in 1938 with other paintings of the tragedies at Guernica. Some response to the poem has been negative however. Guayanese poet Grace Nichols wrote a poem about the weeping woman, but the poem was used to critique Pablo Picasso and his style of cubism. Nichols uses her poem to try and give a voice to Dora Maar as she claims that she is a victim of the Male gaze of Pablo Picasso.

Other versions[edit]

Main article: Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria

The Weeping Woman in the Tate Gallery was one of a series of paintings by Picasso depicting this subject. Another version of two paintings created on 18 October 1937, was stolen from the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia in August 1986, and discovered in a railway station locker in Melbourne later the same month. The thieves' demands included an increase to arts funding.