A Life of Picasso: The Minotaur Years: 1933–1943

Art historian Richardson closes out his series of Pablo Picasso biographies with this posthumously published volume (after A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years), a well-analyzed finale. His account opens as Picasso’s marriage to Olga disintegrates and the political situation in Spain becomes increasingly troubled; Picasso responded with a series of works featuring the Minotaur, a symbol he often used self-referentially in his paintings. He also began a long-term affair with fellow artist Dora Maar that reinvigorated his creativity as seen in his paintings from the era and experimental poetry. The Civil War in Spain, meanwhile, politicized Picasso, which resulted in Guernica, created for the Paris World’s Fair in 1937. Richardson is strongest in his intensely detailed examination of Picasso’s works, major and minor alike. Richardson spends less time analyzing Picasso as a person, though he does make connections between Picasso’s life and art (as with the symbolism in Guernica that represented Maar, himself, and his sister Conchita who died in childhood). While the final chapters, which detail the end of Picasso’s marriage, his survival through Nazi Occupation, and the creation of his major wartime work L’Aubade, feel less polished than earlier sections, they still provide plenty of insight. Fans of the series will find this a satisfying conclusion. (Nov.)