The Muse Series:

I was fascinated by the number of artists whose lives and art were directly influenced by the women in their lives. Call them ‘Muses’ or in most cases mistresses, without them, a lot of artists may had led very different lives.

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1. Dora Maar - Picasso’s Muse (1936 - 1944) 

Famous in her own right as a photographer, poet and painter,

Dora Maar’s beauty and self mutilation attracted Picasso - (she cut her

fingers and a table playing “the knife game”). Picasso got her bloodied

gloves and exhibited them on a shelf in his apartment. 

 

2. Jeanne Hebuterne - Modigliani’s Principal Muse 

On 24 January 1920, Amadeo Modigliani died after a long battle

with Tuberculous Meningitis (along with substance abuse). 

The day after his death, Jeanne Hebuterne tragically threw herself

from a 5th floor apartment and died along with Modigliani’s unborn child.

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3. Tronie - Vermeer's Muse 

Jan Vermeer’s Muse (1665). Sometimes referred to as

“The Dutch Mona Lisa” and commonly known as “Girl with a Pearl Earring”,

the muse was thought to be a “Tronie” - a term used to describe an

unidentified sitter - although debate exists as to whether

it was actually Vermeer’s daughter Maria, or Magdalena - the daughter of Vermeer’s principal patron. Vermeer produced only 35 paintings in his lifetime.

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4. Dora Maar - Picasso Muse (1936 - 1944)

Another interpretation painted as a commission.