She became famous for her framing, her collages, and her deep blacks. She lived in Paris with the stars of the avant-garde. She was friends with Paul Éluard and André Breton. She and she partner of Pablo Picasso. Dora Maar learned to handle the camera with Henri Cartier-Bresson and she left a photographic legacy of great value, because she portrayed the history of the 20th century from the front row.
Now, part of that legacy, which includes unpublished photographs of Barcelona in the 1930s, is going up for auction. The Dora Maar collection, unpublished and photographic background will be sold at the Artcurial room in Paris on June 27 and 28. Before, between June 21 and 26, the images will remain exposed. It is about 750 clichés spread over 400 batches. Each lot contains between one and four images and will be auctioned for a starting price of €1,200.
This little photographic treasure includes various scenes from Barcelona in the 1930s: the La Boquería market, the Sagrada Família, Parc Güell, the Estación de Francia, an afternoon of bullfighting at the Monumental, the fishermen of Barceloneta or everyday scenes of the Catalan capital like that of the musicians playing in the street.
In addition, Maar photographed the process of creating Picasso’s Guernica. The collection also includes scenes of the painter and the evolution of his most famous work. There are also other everyday images of Paris in the 1930s, where the Maar Picasso couple lived and where they rubbed shoulders with the cream of the artistic and intellectual elites of the time.
