Pablo Picasso’s daughter has defended him against modern feminist claims that he was a “patriarchal abuser” who subjected his muses and lovers to systematic sexist violence, reports The Times.
“Picasso is not the satyr that they would have us believe,” said Paloma Picasso, 74, arguing that critics were driven by a fashion for “virtue” and failed to take account of her father’s upbringing in 19th-century Spain.
She was speaking amid renewed scrutiny of the artist’s attitude towards women after the opening of a exhibition of his work at the Picasso Museum in Paris. The scrutiny was prompted by the creation of a temporary space for the paintings of Françoise Gilot, Picasso’s partner for ten years in the middle of the 20th century, and Paloma’s mother.
When Gilot left Picasso in 1953, he whipped up a campaign against her in France persuading art fairs and galleries to boycott her works. Modern feminists say this is one of many examples of his “toxic” behaviour.