Dora Maar by Amar Singh
Dora Maar by Amar Singh, director of Amar Gallery
THE REINTERPRETATION OF A FEMALE ACTIVIST AHEAD OF HER TIME. AN UNVEILED PERSPECTIVE ON HER SURREALIST PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE POWER THAT MADE HER AN ICONIC FIGURE.
Amar Singh, an Indian English art connoisseur known for his global search for female artists works, unveiled one more time, the remarkable Dora Maar, a close friend of postwar artists like André Breton, Giacometti, Cocteau, Balthus, psychoanalyzed by Lacan and Picasso’s lover. The director of Amar Gallery often refers to Picasso‘s phrase «I do not seek, I find» to describe his fortuitous connection with her art. The gallery consistently emphasizes the importance of showcasing overlooked artists who have contributed to various cultures and regions, particularly those who have played significant roles in feminism, LGBTQ+, and minority communities.
Dora Maar, a surrealist photographer, was born in Paris and spent 10 years of her life in Buenos Aires, a moment that she described to her friend Jacqueline Lamba, an important painter of that time who married André Breton, as: “There, i was only related to pretentious people that do not understand about modern art, antique art or art in general” embracing her snobbish side. She was friends with some of the most influential artists of her generation, yet remained an enigmatic figure. Even within the surrealist group, she was seen as a brave and beautiful woman who was disruptive enough to join Contre-Attaque, an activist men group founded by Georges Bataille and Breton, to fight against Nazism and fascism.
The activist was more political than her lover Picasso, she was the one that showed him the images of the Guernica population under attack, and photographed the whole process of the artwork, pushing him to compromise with republicans against Franco’s dictatorship in Spain. Her relationship with Picasso was contradictory. While he dedicated many artworks to her, he also had a relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter, a Russian classical ballet dancer, placing Dora always in second place. Picasso often seduced Jacqueline, which drove Dora nearly crazy, positioning herself as the mystic lover everyone wanted to pursue, even if those stories weren’t real. Amar explains that Picasso was extremely controlling and psychologically abusive, discouraging her from continuing with her photography. She was already a gifted photographer when they met: Talented, intelligent, inspiring, a muse, a little bit hysterical, rebellious, and cultured.
Amar presents a selection of never-before-exhibited photographs, attracting a new generation of collectors and art enthusiasts who reexamine art history and appreciate Dora Maar’s pioneering contributions to surrealist photography. Amar Gallery will open on June 16th in London. The exhibition will feature Dora Maar’s works and include the presentation of the book written by Brigitte Benkemoun: “Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, An Address Book, A Life”.
C: How did you end up with her work? Amazing curation of different women from all parts of the world?
A: The gallery opened its doors in 2017, I have been art dealing in the last 10 years, starting in 2016, the mission was focused on overlooked artists, minority artists, women, LGTB+, but particularly this mission with female artists because it was overlooked. I was one of the earliest to showcase the work of women Abstract Expressionists from New York City. This includes renowned artists like Willem de Kooning and Perle Fine. I was the first in many years to exhibit their work again in London. And i was researching im always researching, and i found Dora Maar works, i read about it when i was on my mid twenties, she was Picasso lover and muse, she also was an amazing artist also before Picasso, so it is a really powerful story.
C: Women at that moment were so behind, women being separated and their right to be seen. How do you manage to tell their stories, they are so cool and different, behind the same message, how do you embrace all that. Before you started, they just came to you?
A: I have to love the work. I’m looking for works of art that i love, looking like a detective, researching the hidden figures, it’s kind of crazy that someone so important, only now is getting her credit, we don’t do just an exhibition, we try to create a community and a network for different areas, i produced a play on Dora Maar, the last performances were in March and the next ones will be in August and July in a festival. And a book is coming out about Dora Maar.
C: It’s really clear what you are doing and what the purpose is, what is your feeling?
A: It’s important to look at trends, and be the first. Women and people of color, LGTB communities, are getting richer and wealthier, they want to buy things that represent them. I’m not seeing a lot of American women, I don’t see them buying a white man artist from London, that is not happening, and if you look at that, for us to be our own thing, we have to champion these overlooked artists. People will really see, real desire for all of this works, it was an artist that grew up in Latin America, Leonora Carrigton, she had a work sold for 28 million dollars, the same work sold by 500 thousand some years before, so it’s all about that, a man bought that work with his wife, but a latin american man. They want to support their own.
C: I’m curious, I know your family is connected to art, where you come from, explain your connection with art, the person behind Amar Gallery.
A: I was born in London but I’m originally from india. Both my mom and dad are Indian, but my mom was born in London. On my dad’s side, he was born in India, and comes from an old Indian family, and they had a collection of Indian and classical Indian art, his grandfathers, etc. When I was growing up,I would visit India, I would see these beautiful paintings, and I met Indian artists. But also i got to meet some indian artists, there is one, a very famous one, he passed away, he was really old, his name is RAZA I got to meet him when i was 12 years old, being around that is very inspiring in terms of art.
C: Who was the one that had something like a family thing?
A: Actually my family are my dad, mom and me. I have a 2nd or 3rd cousin that owns a gallery in Delhi. I Started like really focusing on these overlooked artists, building a collection of them. My family has a collection of Indian artists. But I then began focusing on these overlooked artists, and again, looking where all the people were not looking. If everyone is looking at point A, I would love to see what is happening on point b.
C: Congratulations for that and to take that risk, and right now everything you did turned out to be successful. What are you preparing for this opening?
A: Well, 400 hundred people are coming, which is crazy, and every detail has to be organized. For the opening we are doing drinks, canapes, the Dora Maar book.. managing any event or organizing something, press, friends, family, it is kind of an indian wedding, a lot of color, madness, moving parts, it is really intense, i think maybe i should do a short film called “The opening”.
C: We are filming that!