The Weeping Woman

A 1937 painting by Pablo Picasso depicting Dora Maar in anguish. It belongs to his series of works responding to the bombing of Guernica.

Cubism: An art movement that represents subjects through geometric forms and multiple viewpoints. Picasso uses fractured planes associated with Cubism to distort Maar’s face.
Bombing of Guernica: A 1937 aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian forces supporting Franco. The bombing prompted the work’s broader series of images of wartime suffering.
The Weeping Woman (Tate painting): A 1937 oil painting by Picasso in the Tate collection, showing Dora Maar with a handkerchief at her mouth. This version is a particularly vivid example of the motif’s sharp contours and saturated color.
Dora Maar au Chat: A 1941 Picasso portrait of Dora Maar seated with a cat on a chair. This later portrait offers a contrasting view of Maar beyond the weeping-woman motif.
Analytic Cubism: An early phase of Cubism that breaks subjects into overlapping, muted geometric facets. Its fragmented treatment of form offers a precedent for the painting’s disjointed face.
Dora Maar: A French photographer and artist who was Picasso’s partner and frequent subject in the late 1930s. Maar is the woman depicted, though the painting transforms her features rather than offering a neutral portrait.
The Weeping Woman (National Gallery of Victoria painting): A 1937 painting by Picasso in Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria, depicting a distorted, crying woman. Its version of the motif shows how the series varied the face, pose, and palette.
Anti-war art: Art that opposes war or represents its human costs and violence. The painting’s association with Guernica places private anguish within an antiwar context.
Synthetic Cubism: A phase of Cubism that builds compositions from simplified shapes, bold color, and sometimes collage. Its sharper color and simplified forms help frame comparisons with Picasso’s later style.
Spanish Civil War: The 1936–1939 conflict between Spain’s Republican government and Nationalist forces led by Francisco Franco. The war forms the political context for the bombing and Picasso’s response.

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CryingBroader topic: Its depictions show how crying can become a symbol of suffering beyond an individual act.