In her Portrait of Père Ubu, Maar created one of Surrealism’s most striking images. Using extreme close-up and dramatic lighting in an otherwise unmanipulated photograph, she made a nightmarish apparition from a baby armadillo. Both horrific and comical, it is a fitting embodiment of Père Ubu, the obese blundering monster Alfred Jarry created in his notorious play Ubu Roi (1896).
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Inscription: Signed and dated in pencil on mount, recto BR: "Dora Maar 36" inscribed in pencil on mount, recto BL: "Portrait d'Ubu" [underlined]; paper label with red border affixed to BR corner mount recto with inscription in red pencil: "71"; inscribed in pencil on paper label affixed to mount, verso TR: "45" and stamped "210"; circular stamp on mount, verso TC: "Duanes Exposition - Paris" [upside-down]; stamped below label on mount, verso: "GALERIE ROBERT // keizersgracht 5 & 7 // AMSTERDAM - C"
Georges Hugnet; Private Collection, New York; [Mark Kelman Works of Art, New York, by 1978]; Gilman Paper Company Collection, New York, May 10, 1978
New Burlington Galleries. "International Surrealist Exhibition," June 1936–July 1936.
Ginza Gallery. "Exposition Internationale du Surrealisme," June 1937–July 1937.
Galerie Robert, Amsterdam. "Exposition Internationale du Surrealisme," June 1937–Spring 1938.
Washington, DC. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism," September 14–November 17, 1985.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism," December 13, 1985–February 16, 1986.
Paris. Centre Georges Pompidou. "L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism," April 15–June 16, 1986.
London. Hayward Gallery. "L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism," July 10–October 5, 1986.
Nassau County Museum of Art. "Surrealism," January 15, 1995–April 16, 1995.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Modern Times: Photography Between the Two World Wars," June 9–October 4, 1998.
Haus der Kunst München. "Dora Maar–Pablo Picasso: A Dangerous Liason," October 12, 2001–January 13, 2002.
Centre de la Vielle Charité. "Dora Maar–Pablo Picasso: A Dangerous Liason," February 7, 2002–April 3, 2002.
Nassau County Museum of Art. "Surrealism - Europe and America: Unconscious Discoveries and Conscious Creations," May 26, 2007–August 12, 2007.
Vancouver Art Gallery. "The Colour of My Dreams: Surrealism and Revolution in Art," May 28, 2011–October 2, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Fatal Attraction: Piotr Uklański Selects from the Met Collection," March 17–June 14, 2015.
Morgan Library & Museum. "Alfred Jarry: Prophet of the Avant-Garde," January 24, 2020–August 16, 2020.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Surrealism Beyond Borders," October 11, 2021–January 30, 2022.
Apraxine, Pierre. Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company. Reeds Springs, Mo.: White Oak Press, 1985. pl. 187.
Ades, Dawn, ed. The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 2011. p. 179.
Uklański, Piotr. Piotr Uklański: Fatal Attraction. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2015. p. 197.
Amao, Damarice, Amanda Maddox, and Karolina Ziebinska-Lewandowska, ed. Dora Maar. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019. p. 125.
D'Alessandro, Stephanie, and Matthew Gale. Surrealism Beyond Borders. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021. p. 15.
Germaine Krull (French (born Poland), Wilda-Poznan 1897–1985 Wetzlar, Germany)
1930s
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