Picasso and Dora: A Personal Memoir

This fresh and vivid portrait of the postwar Paris art world, written by a member of Picasso’s circle, sheds original new light on the greatest of modern artists and on the most important and least-known of his loves, the alluring and formidable photographer and painter Dora Maar.

This fresh and vivid portrait of the postwar Paris art world, written by a member of Picasso’s circle, sheds original new light on the greatest of modern artists and on the most important and least-known of his loves, the alluring and formidable photographer and painter Dora Maar.

Library Journal

Lord's memoir reflects on Paris, Dora Maar, and the larger-than-life Pablo Picasso. Author of two books on his friend Alberto Giacometti, Lord supplies a tantalizing stream of prose built on his journals, coaxing the reader into his vivid recollections of Paris under the occupation and Paris after the war. He paints an unflattering portrait of the great artist, while revealing his own relationship with Dora, Picasso's mistress. Picasso and Dora are not the whole subject of the story, however; Lord is really the main character. His impressions, homosexuality, and life are just as much the subject as Picasso and Dora. And his probing the mystery of Dora, though insistent, finally uncovers more mystery, although it may shed some light on an assortment of friends and acquaintances who are mentioned but given no real substance. Those interested in Picasso, Paris, and modern art will want to read this book. -- Ellen Bates, New York

James Lord first went to France at age twenty-one as a member of the Military Intelligence Service during World War II. Since then he has spent the major part of his life in Paris, where he has been acquainted with many of the most prominent members of modern European art. In recognition of his contribution to French culture he has been made an officer of the Legion of Honour.