A very interesting look at the inspiration of one very curious person to dig into the life of a largely forgotten figure from the fringes of art history. The discovery of the address book, the many pathways the author's curiosity led her down, the wonderfully creative way she was able to overcome spaces left in the record of the time...all very good. I enjoyed that aspect of the book.

I actively despise Dora Maar, homophobe and antisemite.

I don't want to know more about her, and am sorry that I now know what I do. If I could dig her up and kill her again, I would. The author doesn't frame her unhappiness with the discoveries she makes about the woman in such outraged terms because, one assumes in the absence of explicit statements on the subject, she isn't gay or Jewish. As a product of the modern world she shares none of Maar's unpleasant ideology, and makes it quite clear this is the case.

What her project did was recenter attention on Dora Maar, artist, person, woman; up to now her one piece of fame was as Picasso's mistress and muse, "The Weeping Woman" of Picasso's iconic painting:
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbUg1_p1LXPmnw81NwuUgM660eHrKDyUyaCLi3DDJciQcSKBk7H0--GheL84_XUOYx9iFFIDapyO3UpYPPK3CB81GaNuI44_R87D6vD2Jc0OfAJWMGCUiyk6Pl2aaIBUXC8wJoZpdTzk2Zg0G54uuOpBjJc251eN-1cbffWkoxIn96KPuzKJuaWg_D78m/s320/dora%20maar%20weeping%20woman%20picasso.jpg">
...whose mental health was terribly damaged by him during their relationship. So, in other words, her only existence even in her mind's functioning was centered on the man Picasso. No room for Maar the suffering person. No blame attached to her "friends" populating this address book for essentially dropping her as she declined. After all, her claim to their attention waned when her connection to Picasso receded into memory. Of course it would.

Given Maar's own merits as an artist, the decline in her circle of friends wasn't as abrupt as it would've been had she not been socially acceptable before her troubles manifested themselves. The author is much more direct about blaming Maar's unpleasant personal beliefs on others than about blaming those others for exacerbating her depression by isolating her. They had scads of reasons to do so, given her unpleasantly judgmental and deeply dyed-in-the-wool fascist ideas and ideology...and no, Author Benkemoun, trying to explain that away with her desire to provoke and satirize the leftists she knew via Picasso isn't an excuse. It's not even much of an explanation. That level of indifference she displayed to the Final Solution and her framing of it as a threat to her personally as someone of Croatian ancestry smacks more of sociopathy than of some kind of artifact of depression, as is suggested in here.

What about this truly dreadful human being made you care for her so deeply, I kept asking Author Benkemoun as the pages turned. What resonated in you to this, to my eyes, justly forgotten and uncelebrated hateful person? Her femaleness? I think she, and her lover Picasso, both deserve desuetude. That it was only her lot is unjust. But let's try to use the weapons of attention to attack Picasso not re-evaluate Maar. Put him, his sexism, his abusive narcissism in the bin with her and let's move on.

Like most people, when I read the name Dora Maar, I think of Pablo Picasso. This book gave me a broader picture of who Maar, an artist in her own right was.

Inspired by accidentally buying a vintage agenda that used to belong to Maar, the author starts investigating Mara's life. What she finds is that Maar was photographer who set aside her career because Picasso couldn't stand sharing the spotlight; a woman who suffered psychologically after Picasso dumped her for another mistress; and, quite frankly, a bigot whose prejudices were cringeworthy. It is in this last point that the author loses me. Not just because of the subject matter, but because the author tries to justify why Maar was an anti-Semitic homophobe.

This is an incredible story that packs in so much. It's a total must-read especially for anyone who loves art.
I found the book to be well-researched and well-written.

This is such an incredible story, and such a great read for any modern art lovers, as I am.
It is a very well researched and written book. which I would highly recommend.

Meet your delightful new friend Brigitte, who is going to take you on a journey through 20th-century art and photography via an address book serendipitously acquired on eBay that just happens to have belonged to Dora Maar. Maar is best known today for having the misfortune of a relationship with Picasso, but she was a talented and interesting person in her own right--and unlike many people close to him, she survived to a ripe old age, although plagued by mental health issues. Page by page, entry by entry, Brigitte explores Maar's connections to the people she knew, imagining her world and injecting her own wry humor into her observations. Maar's life, immortalized as "the Weeping Woman" in Picasso's work, could have been quite depressing in another writer's retelling, but Brigitte manages to make it interesting and educational.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Finally in English! One of several innovative non-fiction titles I pressed into the hands, metaphorically speaking, of friends and strangers this past year. And it made my Best Books of 2020 list, the annual post of my favourite reads.
The full Instagram post with book covers gallery is at the link.

This is perfect for the Strong Sense of Place website: lovely writing, fascinating detail, tons of atmosphere. I really enjoyed the way it's a mashup of a detective story, memoir, and history — super compelling.

The journey of discovering Dora Maar was strange and fascinating. It shed some light on an enigmatic character and the author managed to show more than one facet of Maar's personality. This book goes to show how victims are not always simply victims.
The topic of the book and the address book as the starting point for such a complex journey is a difficult one. Evidence is not always found right away and the amount of research that went through it was astonishing. However, the author offered her own point of view too many times and, despite being mostly upfront about it, it still hurt the book a bit. The bird was out, no way of taking it back. In many situations, since there was no evidence at all regarding the intimate thoughts and the way things happened, but the author tried to imagine what the characters thought, how they reacted and she speculated a lot on all of these things. I actually thought at some point that perhaps writing a historical fiction about Dora Maar would have been a better choice since the freedom of adding fiction was there anyway.
Regarding the order of tackling the names, in a way I thought it was confusing, going from one to another in this manner, but I saw the logic in that and I appreciated the effort to make sense of such a source. It must have been very tough to decide how to connect the characters and who to research next. I also understand that not all the names were researched, thus making me think there might be more to the story. Since Dora Maar was not a likable character or person I imagine it hard to keep going at some point. But, perhaps just like the author, I've also had enough of her.

All in all, it wasn't a bad book and I enjoyed reading about the time period and the characters that appear in Maar's address book. This is a good book to add to any research on avangarde art and the 20th century Parisian society. I'm glad to have received it!

An overdue and warmly welcomed contemporary look at Dora Maar, who was an artist in her own right and not just one of Picasso's paramours.

Although a catalyst of pure luck, the angle of finding Maar's notebook is narrative gold. It not only gives us a niche connection to Maar, but renders the relationship between writer and reader intimate: together we read Maar's notes, and together we will rediscover this brilliant woman.

Why can't I find second hand treasures belonging to the deities of history in my local Oxfam?

This book is delightfully written and tells about the intertwined lives of Dora Maar, (the famous photographer and contemporary of Man Ray), Picasso (who treated Mme Maar very shabbily), and virtually every artist in Paris in the 1930's through 1960's. The mystery is born when the author finds an old address/date book in a vintage French leather "diary". When she flips through it, she realizes that whoever originally owned this little book had been a person of some prominence who knew a long list of famous people in the golden days of Paris and the Lost Generation. The mystery is untangled in a fascinating way, which also leads the author to tracking down people who may have known those whose names and addresses are in this little book. The stories are many and gripping, especially for anyone interested in painters, sculptors, and writers of that era. Ms. Benkemoun travels to various parts of France to track down answers to her questions, so if the reader enjoys "visiting" these places as part of the story, that is a bonus. I highly recommend this book, and will be interested in other work by this author.

It all starts with the innocent purchase of a red leather notebook on Ebay. Author Brigitte Benkemoun was hunting for a gift, actually she was trying to replace a special edition red leather address and notebook.

What arrived from her ebay purchase was more than she could imagine...and it turned into a hunt for the original book's owner.

This is the story of that search, and the answers she found to questions she hadn't even asked, was only the begining of this exciting story.

This is the heartwarming and engaging journey through the addresses found in the book.
And these were no ordinary names... these were the names, addresses and phone numbers of some of the most influential people of that time. .artists, painters, writers...
And they all led to Ms. Henriette Theodora Markovitch, aka Dora Maar, woman, French photographer, painter, poet...and muse to Picasso.
She is "The Weeping Woman" in a Picasso painting. She was incredible, talented and overlooked.
This is an absolute must read!

4⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Getty Publishing and the author Ms. Brigitte Benkemoun for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy of "Finding Dora Maar". The opinions expressed in this review are mine alone.

When Brigitte Benkemoun bought an address book by chance on Ebay, she was amazed to find that it was Picasso's famous mistress Dora Maar's address book. She decided to study this strange woman through her list of friends and acquantainces to find out more about her. And what friends she had! They included Jean Cocteau, Nicolas de Stael, Max Jacob and other glittering members of the Surrealists and Cubists. Benkemoun's account is written in a rather breathless manner, but it is engaging because she includes her own thoughts and struggles to understand Dora.

Picasso first wanted to know who she was when he saw her at a club, planting a knife into a table from higher and higher distances, with blood all over her hands. A talented young photographer and artist who always wore designer clothes, Dora should have had a brilliant career, but her relationship with Picasso, who treated her dreadfully, made her embittered and anguished, and mental illness began to plague her. She turned Catholic but that didn't seem to comfort her, and she also kept a copy of Mein Kampf even though she lived through the war, and knew of the horrors of the Nazi regime. Dora was interesting but difficult to like. I found this a pretty anguished, harrowing story. I felt that Benkemoun was somewhat anti-Catholic at times, which I found annoying.

I received this ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have never before read a book like this; what a unique premise for a book and what stunning research went into its completion! This was an exceptional book. Very well researched and just a well written book. An exceptional book on artists from the French avant garde. Amazing that someone could find such a treasure!

Brigitte Benkemoun finds the address book for muse and lover of Picasso, herself an artist with photography and paintings.
Dora seems like a complicated, fascinating women. To be surrounded by a lot of the famous painters, writers, poets of the hay day between 1930-1951. The address book likely written in 1951 is the starting point for Brigitte to delve into the people in her life. As an ardent lover of "modern" art, I loved this book. I have seen many paintings and works by the artists she had within her inner circle. Picasso seems like a really rough and intense person to be with and with all of his ex lovers, they remain scarred (of what I have read up till now).
Dora surely deserved to be seen as an artist in her on right, but alas what art becomes "famous' or "collectable' is often arbitrary.
A fascinating book read in two days. If you are an art lover, or are interested in the time period of the 30s-50s (the book goes up to the 90s), you will enjoy this.
I got this book as an ARC from NetGalley, with the English translation by Jody Gladding, so cannot comment on the original French version. But I love the persistance and dedication Brigitte showed this woman, and hopefully she will be remember as more than the "weeping woman'.

I found this such a compelling and engaging read, and a very unusual one. It all started when Brigitte Benkemoun’s husband bought a vintage notebook on eBay and when she started to look through it she realised it was an address book containing many names that she recognised. Some further detective work revealed that the notebook had belonged to Dora Maar and the names and addresses belonged to the great and the good of Parisian artistic and avant-garde circles – from Brassai to Andre Breton, Cocteau to Lacan. Benkemoun set out on a journey of discovery to track down the addresses and in this way explores Dora Maar's life and work through her friends and acquaintances. I found it an exhilarating journey, not least because Benkemoun actually met Maar in her older reclusive years so we get a glimpse of the real woman behind the notebook. Part memoir, part cultural history, part biography, part detective tale, this is essential reading for anyone interested in that era and in Dora Maar, Picasso and their circle in particular.

Finding Dora Maar
An Artist, an Address Book, a Life
by Brigitte Benkemoun
Getty Publications
Arts & Photography. |. Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 19 May 2020
I am reviewing a copy of Finding Dora Maar through Getty Publications and Netgalley:
Finding Dora Maar merges biography, memoir and cultural history in one captivating book.
While searching for a replacement for his lost copy of Hermès Agenda Brigitte Benkemoun’s husband buys a vintage diary on eBay. When Brigitte opens it, the diary shows private notes dating back to 1951, as well as 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.
Brigitte comes to the realization that the book belonged to Dora Maar, Picasso’s famous “Weeping Woman.” Dora Maar was a brilliant artist in her own right. The journal leads. to Benkemoun embarking on a two year long journey of discovery to learn more about this provocative, passionate, and enigmatic woman, and the role that each of these figures played in her life.
Finding Dora Maar is a fascinating of Picasso’s former mistress, as well as a talented artist of her own right, Dora Maar.
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life by Brigitte Benkemoun was an interesting read. When the author's husband loses his beloved Hermès agenda, she searches online and buys a vintage diary on EBay. When it arrives, they discover that the previous owner's address book is still in it, with listings of such artists as Jean Cocteau, Paul Éluard, and Jacqueline Lamba, among others. This leads to the discovery that the previous owned was Dora Maar, best known today as the subject of Picasso's 1937 Weeping Woman.

Maar was a painter, photographer and poet and, like the friends listed in her address book, was an innovative radical artiste who inspired artists who followed, including Picasso himself. Benkemoun, through tracing the names in address book, traces the history of the surrealists and artists around Maar. Quite an interesting read.

For many decades Dora Mar was written off as just Picasso’s mistress- one of them- the weeping woman. This Engaging book written by a tenacious biographer determined to track the reclusive artist down puts Maar back on her well deserved pedestal.

I knew so little about Picasso's mistress and model, Dora Maar. What could have been just tedious research was turned into a fascinating story combining memoir, history and mystery. Another fascinating woman has been released from the shadows of history.

I knew absolutely nothing about Dora Maar before going into this book, other than the fact she was an artist. At the end of this, I did really feel like I'd gotten a glimpse into the person she might have been. At times, this was very hard to read. Maar really doesn't come across as an easy person to like, but she also had a pretty tough life and it was sad to see the way she was treated by the people around her, even if you get the impression she probably would've responded in kind. All in all, this was a fascinating read.