Who was the subject of Picasso's painting 'The Weeping Woman'?

Who was the subject of Picasso’s painting “The Weeping Woman”? The answer is Dora Maar.

Picasso’s “The Weeping Woman” depicts Dora Maar, the French photographer, painter and Surrealist who was his lover, muse and frequent subject. Picasso met Maar in 1935, and she became especially prominent in his work during the years surrounding the Spanish Civil War.

The paintings were made in 1937 in response to the tragedy of the conflict and are closely connected with the anguished imagery of Picasso’s “Guernica.” Maar also photographed the stages of “Guernica” as Picasso worked on it, documenting the painting’s development in his Paris studio.

There is not just one “Weeping Woman.” Picasso produced multiple paintings and drawings on the theme between May and October 1937. The best-known version is in the Tate collection in London; other versions are held by the National Gallery of Victoria, the Musée Picasso in Paris and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

A common mistake is treating the title as a generic anonymous figure. Although the image became a symbol of wartime grief, its identifiable model was Dora Maar.