Two Mistresses Meet

"Not long before the delivery of [Guernica] [his mistress] Marie-Thérèse walked into the studio to find Picasso up on his ladder and [another mistress] Dora at his feet. For Picasso, it remained 'one of his choicest memories'...

"'I have a child by this man. It's my place to be here with him,' said Marie-Thérèse. 'You can leave right now.' Dor said, 'I have as much reason as you have to be here. I haven't borne him a child but I don't see what difference that makes.'

"Picasso refused to intervene, preferring to watch the two women fight it out.

"Finally, Marie-Thérèse turned to me and said, 'Make up your mind. Which one of us goes?' It was a hard decision to make. I liked them both, for different reasons: Marie-Thérèse because she was sweet and gentle and did whatever I wanted her to, and Dora because she was intelligent... I told them they'd have to fight it out themselves. So they began to wrestle."

-Guernica

Gijs van Hensbergen