French-born Henriette Théodora Markovitch, known as Dora Maar, grew up in Buenos Aires and returned to Paris to study painting and later photography. In 1930 she shared a studio with set designer and photographer Pierre Kéfer. Encouraged by Henri Cartier-Bresson to take up photojournalism, she posed for Man Ray and became a close friend of Brassaï. By the mid-1930s she had become closely associated with Surrealism, working within a circle that included Man Ray, André Breton, Jean Cocteau and Paul Éluard, who introduced her to Picasso. Her relationship with Picasso lasted nearly eight years and, over time, she moved away from photography and increasingly turned to painting. After their separation and her mental breakdown, she settled in Provence, where she continued to paint, mainly producing landscapes.
Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky) / Pablo Picasso / Paul Éluard / Jean Cocteau / André Breton