Finding Dora Maar: An Artist, an Address Book, a Life

" A] spirited and deeply researched project.... Benkemoun's] affection for her subject is infectious. This book gives a satisfying treatment to a woman who has been confined for decades to a Cubist's limited interpretation." -- Joumana Khatib, The New York Times Merging biography, memoir, and cultural history, this compelling book, a bestseller in France, traces the life of Dora Maar through a serendipitous encounter with the artist's address book. In search of a replacement for his lost Herm s agenda, Brigitte Benkemoun's husband buys a vintage diary on eBay. When it arrives, she opens it and finds inside private notes dating back to 1951--twenty pages of phone numbers and addresses for Balthus, Brassa , Andr Breton, Jean Cocteau, Paul luard, Leonor Fini, Jacqueline Lamba, and other artistic luminaries of the European avant-garde.After realizing that the address book belonged to Dora Maar--Picasso's famous "Weeping Woman" and a brilliant artist in her own right--Benkemoun embarks on