Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

The Truth About Pablo Picasso

July 17, 2026

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5 min read

Pablo Picasso was painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907 when he invited another artist’s wife and her child to sit in front of the canvas, then photographed the scene from the floor. The painting itself—five nude women in a space that looks like a cave or a womb—was not, as commonly told, a simple brothel scene. Harvard professor Suzanne Blier argues it was something far more ambitious: an attempt to depict the origins of humankind, with women of different races and a crouching figure in the posture of childbirth. That tension—between monumental artistic ambition and a private life marked by control, cruelty, and exploitation—is the subject of this episode of Betwixt the Sheets.

The Making of a Genius

Picasso was born in Málaga, Spain, a coastal city close to Africa, and grew up in an international setting. His grandfather had lived in Cuba, and Picasso later learned he had Spanish cousins of African descent. His mother was deeply supportive, and his father was an artist who nurtured his early talent. But a formative tragedy struck when his seven-year-old sister Conchita contracted diphtheria. Picasso vowed that if she lived, he would give up painting. She died. Blier suggests this loss pervaded his thinking about creativity, success, children, and death for the rest of his life.

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What you'll learn

1 (03:14) **Introducing Picasso: The Genius and the Problem** - Host Kate Lister sets up the central tension of the episode: can we admire Picasso's revolutionary art while acknowledging his abusive behavior towards women, including his relationship with a 17-year-old and the alleged abuse of an adopted daughter.
2 (06:14) **Picasso's Origin Story: Málaga to Paris** - Blier describes Picasso's Spanish roots, his supportive parents, and the tragic death of his seven-year-old sister Conchita, which she identifies as a transformative trauma that shaped his views on creativity, success, and motherhood.
3 (08:02) **Defining the Genius: Business, Humor, and Absorption** - Blier explains that Picasso's genius was not just artistic but also financial and intellectual, describing him as a "brilliant, transformative, and complex person" who absorbed everything around him like "AI."
4 (13:21) **The Radical Break: *Les Demoiselles d'Avignon*** - Blier reinterprets Picasso's most famous painting, arguing it was not a simple brothel scene but a profound intellectual inquiry into the origins of humankind, featuring women of different races and a "giving birth" posture.
5 (23:13) **The Problem with Women: The First Major Relationship** - The conversation pivots to Picasso's relationships, starting with Fernande Olivier, a tall, red-headed, "super smart" model who was the first big love of his life and with whom he lived in poverty.
6 (27:36) **The Artist-Model Dynamic and Control** - Blier explains how the artist-model relationship is inherently controlling, and how Picasso's shift away from using live models (towards books) changed his dynamic with Fernande.
7 (31:02) **The Love of His Life and the First Marriage** - The narrative moves through Picasso's relationship with Eva Gude, who died of cancer and whom Blier calls the "real love of his life," followed by his first marriage to Olga Khokhlova, a ballet dancer.

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Show Notes

Pablo Picasso's impact on the art world was sensational, but what impact did he have on the people around him?

His relationship history contains some problematic moments, to say the least, so we are asking if you can - or even if you should - separate the art from the artist.

Joining Kate today is author and Harvard professor, Suzanne Blier, to help us navigate this and find out more about Pablo Picasso.

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This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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