Museum Protesters Say Picasso Mistreated Women

 

A professor from a Barcelona art school held a protest recently at a museum dedicated¹ to Pablo Picasso. She told Reuters news agency that she wants to show the Spanish painter's sometimes hurtful behavior towards women.

Maria Llopis and seven of her female students appeared at the Picasso Museum wearing t-shirts that read "Picasso, women abuser." Others wore t-shirts with the name of Dora Maar.

Maar was a French artist who is believed to have suffered abuse by Picasso during their relationship in the 1930s and 1940s.

The protest follows the worldwide debate on the treatment of some women by some men, led by the #MeToo movement. Many in this movement want to show poor treatment of women of dead individuals as well as living ones.

In recent years in Spain, women's rights have gotten more attention after several well-known rape² and abuse cases.

Llopis, a 45-year-old professor, said she only wanted to make a restrained protest. She said the museum was not discussing Picasso's treatment of women and his female relationships. She added that this is especially true of Dora Maar and her troubled life after their break-up.

"It was not an attack on Picasso," she said. "I don't believe at all in cancel culture. I believe in the truth, in not hiding things."

The museum director, Emmanuel Guigon, said he respected the protest. He added that the debates that result from the protests are important. He said that a talk next autumn on Picasso's relationship with women and exhibitions on the issue were already planned.

"We cannot look at Picasso's work and life as we did 20, 40 or 50 years ago," he said. "It can always be looked (at) with new and critical eyes, but we will not remove Picasso's work from art history."

He said that Picasso was "very machista" – a word that translates as a "male chauvinist³" in English. However, he did not know of cases of physical abuse.

Picasso lived from 1881 to 1973 and had many relationships throughout his life. In a 2001 book, his granddaughter Marina Picasso wrote that he would get rid of women after he used them for his artistic⁴ purposes.

Art historian Victoria Combalia wrote a story of Maar's life. She has accused Llopis' protest of being meaningless. But she said she supports putting information in museums about the stories behind some of his paintings.

Asked about that possibility, museum director Guigon said there are no plans to do that. He added that it was more important to hold debates.

There is evidence that at least once Picasso very likely punched Maar on her eye and that he could be seen as abusive to women in general, Combalia said.

Words in This Story

cancel culture -n. the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval⁵ and exerting social pressure

exhibition -n. a public showing (as of works of art, objects of manufacture, or athletic⁶ skill)

male chauvinist -n. a belief that men are superior to women

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

3 chauvinist   

n.沙文主义者

参考例句：

• I don't know how she can live with him;he's such a male chauvinist pig!我真不理解她怎么能与他一起生活，他是个典型的大男子主义者。
• How can you do the Muslim chauvinist thing?你怎么能做穆斯林沙文主义的事情？

4 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

5 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

6 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。