For Picasso, women were indispensable models and opportunities. However, at some point, the abuse began, and the women who were with Picasso gradually left. Perhaps they approached him for money and left just as easily. Yet, there were women who endured Picasso's abuse and stayed with him.
The first was Olga Khokhlova, Picasso's wife.
Before her, there were many women—Eva Gouel, Fernande Olivier, Gaby, and others—but Olga endured Picasso's abuse for ten years and married him. This is somewhat understandable, as she was a strong Russian woman.
Picasso’s Woman: Olga
Picasso married Olga when he was 37, but less than two years later, he fell into an affair with Sara Murphy. Many paintings made after 1923 are said to be of Sara Murphy.
Picasso’s Woman: Sara Murphy
In 1927, when Picasso was 46, he met Marie-Thérèse Walter, who was 17 at the time. Marie gave birth to Maya and wanted to marry Picasso, but Picasso was still separated from Olga, so she had to keep waiting. Picasso likely told her to wait. However, life didn’t go smoothly. After Picasso’s death, she hanged herself.
Picasso’s Woman: Marie
In 1935, at 54, Picasso met a woman named Dora Maar.
Dora Maar
In 1944, at 63, Picasso fell in love with a 23-year-old student at a Paris art school. This was Françoise Gilot, who gave birth to Claude and Paloma Picasso. However, she couldn’t endure the abuse and left.
Françoise Gilot (1949)
At 68, he had a relationship with 19-year-old Genevieve Laporte. After her, he met Jacqueline Roque, whose portrait he painted many times.
Picasso’s Second Wife: Jacqueline Roque
Because Picasso was still married to Olga, there was no room for anyone else, but Olga died in 1955. The women who had been with Picasso and even had children saw this as an opportunity.
Especially Françoise Gilot, who wrote a book about her life with Picasso. With the proceeds, she hired a lawyer and sued to have her children, Claude and Paloma Picasso, recognized as Picasso's heirs.
Picasso, enraged, secretly married Jacqueline Roque, making her his heir. In any case, Jacqueline became Picasso's second official wife and lived with him until his death. By then, Picasso was over 70 and likely lacked the strength to abuse, so it couldn't be considered abuse anymore.
Then, in 1973, Picasso died of heart failure at the age of 92 in Mougins, southeastern France.
Jacqueline Roque, then 46, became Picasso’s heir. Picasso’s works were inherited by Jacqueline, her children, and Françoise Gilot's children, Claude and Paloma Picasso. Olga's son, Pablito, committed suicide out of grief after being barred from the funeral, missing his chance.
The heirs established the Musée Picasso in Paris with Picasso's works.
However, Jacqueline Roque committed suicide at the age of 59 in Mougins... It seems none of the women who were with Picasso lived a proper life while Picasso lived on to over 90 years old.
updated in 2024.05.28
