Dora Maar: Behind the Lens presents the surrealist works of Maar as well as photographs of Picasso and Guernica, the celebrated anti-war painting for which Maar was the only official photographer. The exhibition also revisits Maar’s erasure throughout art history. As a photographer, she was a pioneer, admired by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Man Ray. Her position as Picasso’s lover obscured her artistic talent, which extended far beyond photography and included poetry and painting.
Arriving in Paris at the age of 19, Maar studied at the progressive Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Academy Julian, and Ecole de Photographie. Here, she refined her distinctive black-and-white photographic style. She soon established herself as a prominent photographer associated with surrealism, exhibiting at the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London alongside Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Eileen Agar, and Paul Eluard.
As Time Magazine wrote in 2022, Maar’s anti-fascist worldview influenced Picasso’s art: “Like many surrealist artists, philosophers and poets during the 1930s, Maar had converted to left-wing politics. In fact, she became one of the Lef’s most involved activists—a radical move for a woman at a time when women were still largely excluded from politics in France; they only gained the right to vote in 1944.”
Part of the proceeds from Dora Maar: Behind the Lens will go towards supporting Shakti Vahini & We Power, two notable anti-trafficking organisations in India which serve for the protection of women & children in India.
| Duration | 16 June 2024 - 18 August 2024 |
| Times | Thu-Sun: 11 am - 6 pm |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | Amar Gallery |
| Address | Kirkman House, 12-14 Whitfield Street, London W1T 2RF, , |
| Contact | / amar@amargallery.com / www.amargallery.com |