To mark PHotoESPAÑA 2025, LOEWE and the LOEWE FOUNDATION present an exhibition dedicated to the pioneering 20th-century photographer Dora Maar at the Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid. Curated by María Millán, the exhibition highlights key aspects of Maar’s multidisciplinary work, including photographs of socially charged urban scenes in Barcelona, portraits of friends, and a previously unpublished archive of drawings.
Maar, whose real name was Henriette Theodora Markovitch, was born in Paris to a Croatian-French family. She carved out a professional career as a commercial and fashion photographer in the 1920s, immediately rising to prominence for her experimentation with avant-garde techniques—multiple exposure, solarization, double negatives, photomontage, and groundbreaking lighting—and her undeniable technical skill. Later, he became a leading figure in the surrealist movement, although in his early works he already broke with established canons.
The exhibition includes a little-known collection of street scenes taken by Maar in Barcelona in 1933 during the period of sociopolitical turmoil preceding the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. These images portray everyday life and traditional trades in the city, such as fishing and basket-weaving, focusing on the hardships suffered by disadvantaged communities, including day laborers, street musicians, beggars, prostitutes, impoverished families, and the elderly.
By focusing on the most marginalized people in society, Maar offers a direct and empathetic account of the difficulties of urban life, contrasting them with the figures of citizens from the more affluent classes strolling along Las Ramblas. This vision invites the viewer to question the normality of these social conditions.
In addition to these photographs, the exhibition includes a series of drawings, most of which were recently discovered and now on public display for the first time. Acquired at auction five years ago, these works, executed on loose sheets of paper, diaries, and notebooks in pencil and India ink, bring us closer to the artist’s imagination and creativity. From Cubist abstractions and images inspired by mythology to still lifes and natural landscapes, the drawings reflect the artist’s dreams and ideas, as well as her tireless experimentation with new forms of representation, as a counterpoint to her street photography.
The exhibition also includes period portraits of key cultural figures such as the playwright Jean Cocteau, the actress Nadia Sibirskaïa, and the artist Pablo Picasso. A series of invaluable images document the creation of Guernica (1937), tracing the evolution of its composition over the 35 days it took Picasso to paint it, shortly after the bombing of the Basque town.
Although often remembered for her romantic relationship with Pablo Picasso, Maar had already made a name for herself in the European avant-garde long before meeting him in 1935. This exhibition contributes to a broader re-evaluation of Maar’s contributions and importance, recognizing her not just as a photographer, surrealist artist, or muse, but as an artist whose singular artistic vision pushed the boundaries of expression and representation.
This project is part of LOEWE and the LOEWE FOUNDATION’S commitment to show works by the most daring photographers of the 20th century, who set out to explore alternative worlds. It brings Maar closer to the public, placing the legacy of this radically innovative artist at the forefront of today’s European photographic landscape.
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