Hidden Portraits

A WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR

A compelling tale . . . Brilliantly insightful and well-written. - Times


Fernande Olivier, Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Therese Walter, Dora Maar, Francoise Gilot, and Jacqueline Roque. These six extraordinary women shared Pablo Picassos life and were instrumental in his career, yet they have long been dismissed as simply passive models or muses.

Hidden Portraits reveals that their lives were - without exception - remarkable. All six were unconventional, independent and talented. All six were tested, both by Picassos subterfuges and betrayals, and the wider social turbulence they lived through. The extent to which each influenced Picassos art in major new directions has never been fully acknowledged.

Sue Roe delves deeply into the truth of the womens experiences for the first time, to tell the story of Picassos women from their point of view. Her enthralling book spans seventy years, from Bohemian early twentieth century Montmartre to the glittering Riviera in the 1920s, through Paris under Nazi occupation and beyond Picassos final years of seclusion.

The result is a riveting, atmospheric read about six fascinating and charismatic women, outstanding in their own time, whose individual stories have up to now been glossed over or hidden from view.