Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life
by Brigitte Benkemoun translated by Jody Gladding
J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2020 eISBN: 978-1-60606-660-7 | Paper: 978-1-60606-659-1 Library of Congress Classification N6853.M118B4613 2020 Dewey Decimal Classification 709.2
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
“[A] spirited and deeply researched project…. [Benkemoun’s] affection for her subject is infectious. This book gives a satisfying treatment to a woman who has been confined for decades to a Cubist’s limited interpretation.” — Joumana Khatib, The New York Times
Merging biography, memoir, and cultural history, this compelling book, a bestseller in France, traces the life of Dora Maar through a serendipitous encounter with the artist’s address book.
In search of a replacement for his lost Hermès agenda, Brigitte Benkemoun’s husband buys a vintage diary on eBay. When it arrives, she opens it and finds inside private notes dating back to 1951—twenty pages of phone numbers and addresses for Balthus, Brassaï, André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Paul Éluard, Leonor Fini, Jacqueline Lamba, and other artistic luminaries of the European avant-garde.
After realizing that the address book belonged to Dora Maar—Picasso’s famous “Weeping Woman” and a brilliant artist in her own right—Benkemoun embarks on a two-year voyage of discovery to learn more about this provocative, passionate, and enigmatic woman, and the role that each of these figures played in her life.
Longlisted for the prestigious literary award Prix Renaudot, Finding Dora Maar is a fascinating and breathtaking portrait of the artist.
This work received support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States through their publishing assistance program.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Brigitte Benkemoun is a journalist and writer. She is the author of La petite fille sur la photo (2012) and Albert le Magnifique (2016).
Jody Gladding is a poet and translator. She has translated some thirty books from French, including, most recently, Roland Barthes’s Album: Unpublished Correspondence and Texts (2018), Michel Pastoureau’s Yellow: The History of a Color (2019), and Jean Giono’s Occupation Journal (2020).
REVIEWS
“Art history meets detective work: what could be more thrilling?”
— ARTnews
“[A] spirited and deeply researched project…. [Benkemoun’s] affection for her subject is infectious. This book gives a satisfying treatment to a woman who has been confined for decades to a Cubist’s limited interpretation.”
“In Benkemoun’s version of art history we imagine the rooms where painters lived out their adventures, the colors of their fingernails, and the lunch special served at the café on the day Picasso dined with one mistress and met, for the first time, his next. Using a humble phone book as a starting point, Finding Dora Maar is a joyful reminder of the people behind some now-iconic names.”
— Karen Chernick, Hyperallergic
“The marvel here is that a chance encounter with a seemingly insignificant object could yield such a world of personal discovery and excitement—an excitement that Benkemoun, in the best Surrealist, and biographical, tradition, often manages to convey.”
— Mark Polizzotti, Reading in Translation
"It’s marvelous. . . . A unique portrait through snapshots, scenes from parties and iconic cafes, and striking snippets of her poetry and poetry written about her by lovers.”
— What’s Nonfiction
“A compelling blend of memoir, biography and history.”
— Apollo
“An especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Art History collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life is also readily available in a digital book format.”
— Mary Cowper, Midwest Book Review
“Eschewing chronological or alphabetical order, documenting her own wrong turnings and sudden breakthroughs, Benkemoun crafts a sinuous narrative in which chapters are bridged by chance encounters and association of ideas. . . . Benkemoun uncovers interesting archive material and she sketches a vibrant gallery of portraits.”
— Peter Brooks, Times Literary Supplement
“Fascinating insights. . . . Conveys the excitement of discovery and the drama of Maar’s life.”
— Alexander Adams, The Critic
“Most certainly, Benkamoun’s patient sleuthing of the leads furnished by an otherwise diminutive document convinces the reader that Maar’s universe was complex and stimulating and that art remained for her—and for some time—a means of direct engagement with her world.”
— Eilene Hoft-March, H-France Review
“The adventure lasts long after reading and never feels dull or soon-to-be-forgotten.”
— Patrick James Dunagan, Rain Taxi
“Maar's profile has been on the rise over the past few years, viewed though a new lens via efforts like this biography.”
Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life
by Brigitte Benkemoun translated by Jody Gladding
J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2020 eISBN: 978-1-60606-660-7 Paper: 978-1-60606-659-1
“[A] spirited and deeply researched project…. [Benkemoun’s] affection for her subject is infectious. This book gives a satisfying treatment to a woman who has been confined for decades to a Cubist’s limited interpretation.” — Joumana Khatib, The New York Times
Merging biography, memoir, and cultural history, this compelling book, a bestseller in France, traces the life of Dora Maar through a serendipitous encounter with the artist’s address book.
In search of a replacement for his lost Hermès agenda, Brigitte Benkemoun’s husband buys a vintage diary on eBay. When it arrives, she opens it and finds inside private notes dating back to 1951—twenty pages of phone numbers and addresses for Balthus, Brassaï, André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Paul Éluard, Leonor Fini, Jacqueline Lamba, and other artistic luminaries of the European avant-garde.
After realizing that the address book belonged to Dora Maar—Picasso’s famous “Weeping Woman” and a brilliant artist in her own right—Benkemoun embarks on a two-year voyage of discovery to learn more about this provocative, passionate, and enigmatic woman, and the role that each of these figures played in her life.
Longlisted for the prestigious literary award Prix Renaudot, Finding Dora Maar is a fascinating and breathtaking portrait of the artist.
This work received support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States through their publishing assistance program.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Brigitte Benkemoun is a journalist and writer. She is the author of La petite fille sur la photo (2012) and Albert le Magnifique (2016).
Jody Gladding is a poet and translator. She has translated some thirty books from French, including, most recently, Roland Barthes’s Album: Unpublished Correspondence and Texts (2018), Michel Pastoureau’s Yellow: The History of a Color (2019), and Jean Giono’s Occupation Journal (2020).
REVIEWS
“Art history meets detective work: what could be more thrilling?”
— ARTnews
“[A] spirited and deeply researched project…. [Benkemoun’s] affection for her subject is infectious. This book gives a satisfying treatment to a woman who has been confined for decades to a Cubist’s limited interpretation.”
“In Benkemoun’s version of art history we imagine the rooms where painters lived out their adventures, the colors of their fingernails, and the lunch special served at the café on the day Picasso dined with one mistress and met, for the first time, his next. Using a humble phone book as a starting point, Finding Dora Maar is a joyful reminder of the people behind some now-iconic names.”
— Karen Chernick, Hyperallergic
“The marvel here is that a chance encounter with a seemingly insignificant object could yield such a world of personal discovery and excitement—an excitement that Benkemoun, in the best Surrealist, and biographical, tradition, often manages to convey.”
— Mark Polizzotti, Reading in Translation
"It’s marvelous. . . . A unique portrait through snapshots, scenes from parties and iconic cafes, and striking snippets of her poetry and poetry written about her by lovers.”
— What’s Nonfiction
“A compelling blend of memoir, biography and history.”
— Apollo
“An especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Art History collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life is also readily available in a digital book format.”
— Mary Cowper, Midwest Book Review
“Eschewing chronological or alphabetical order, documenting her own wrong turnings and sudden breakthroughs, Benkemoun crafts a sinuous narrative in which chapters are bridged by chance encounters and association of ideas. . . . Benkemoun uncovers interesting archive material and she sketches a vibrant gallery of portraits.”
— Peter Brooks, Times Literary Supplement
“Fascinating insights. . . . Conveys the excitement of discovery and the drama of Maar’s life.”
— Alexander Adams, The Critic
“Most certainly, Benkamoun’s patient sleuthing of the leads furnished by an otherwise diminutive document convinces the reader that Maar’s universe was complex and stimulating and that art remained for her—and for some time—a means of direct engagement with her world.”
— Eilene Hoft-March, H-France Review
“The adventure lasts long after reading and never feels dull or soon-to-be-forgotten.”
— Patrick James Dunagan, Rain Taxi
“Maar's profile has been on the rise over the past few years, viewed though a new lens via efforts like this biography.”
— CNN Style
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents Page
Foreword
Michèle S.
Achille de Ménerbes
Theodora Markovitch
Marcel Fleiss
Breton
Lamba
Huguette Lamba
Chavance
Brassaï
Éluard
Dubois
Cocteau
Plombier
Leyris
Trillat
Madeleine
Lacan
Michel
Vic. Noailles
Boudinot
Marchand
Douglas Cooper
Picasso
Étienne Périer
Effront
Penrose
Sarraute
Du Bouchet
Staël
Shedan
Vétérinaire Pichon
André Marchand
Balthus
Leyris
Duc de Luynes
Architecte Ménerbes
Marbrier Pouillaud
Picasso
Dora Maar
Notes
Acknowledgments
Translator’s Note
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC