Of the various vital ladies in his everyday living, two, Marie-Thèrése Walter, a mistress, and Jacqueline Roque, his 2nd spouse, died by suicide. Many of these gals functioned as muses for him, and their inclusion in his extensive oeuvre granted them a location in artwork background. Biographer and art critic John Berger felt his skills as an artist have been "squandered" by the communists.