Looking for Picasso and found Dora

Sick on the couch this weekend and catching up on current affairs with BBC Canada, a segment on the new Picasso exhibit on now at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, caught my attention.

I was very sad to have missed seeing Musee National Picasso Paris on my first visit to the named city last year. I now learn that while it is under construction until 2013, the museum has put together a collection of pieces that will travel to four venues – it’s first stop in little old Richmond Virginia.

You would think that only the top art museums in major cities like New York, and London would be offered or could afford to bring such a high profile show as Picasso’s masterpieces. Instead these pieces will be on display in more unique venues that will draw a new crowd of people.

"Portrait of Dora Maar Seated" 1937 by Pablo Picasso

One of the many remarkable works in the collection is “Portrait of Dora Maar Seated” (1937).  Dora’s personal impression on Picasso’s life was deeper than just one of a long line of lovers. They were intellectually intimate, and as a Spanish speaking surrealist photographer, she was very involved in documenting his most monstrous creation "Guernica" – a violent representation of the Spanish civil war.

It has been said that you can understand their cerebral connection by the way he represents her in this portrait. She is elegantly clothed with her long red tipped finger nails pointing to her ear symbolizing his respect for her intelligence.

The next stop for this group of surrealist masterpieces is San Francisco, California at the de Young Museum from June to October 2011; so if you take a trip down the coast I strongly suggest you go and look for Dora.