His affair with 17-year old Marie-Thérèse Walter while he was married to his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, destroyed Olga. She went through a mental breakdown, separated from Picasso, and even urged for a divorce. But Picasso was reluctant to divide his property, so, he declined the divorce.
After Marie-Thérèse Walter, Picasso’s next great muse was artist and photographer Dora Maar. But in 1943, Picasso left Maar for a much younger Françoise Gilot. Maar suffered from complete mental collapse and went into a nun-like seclusion.
Gilot never married Picasso but had two children with him. Picasso once told Gilot, “Women are machines for suffering” and “For me, there are only two kinds of women, goddesses and doormats.” After their nine-year affair, Gilot left Picasso due to the physical abuse inflicted on her. In 1961, Picasso married Jacqueline Roque. Thirteen years after the death of Picasso, Roque killed herself by gunshot.