Picasso Peace and Freedom is the first in-depth examination of Picasso as a politically and socially engaged artist, from the 1940s, when he defiantly remained in Paris during the Nazi occupation, through the Cold War period. Picasso was a member of, and a huge financial donor to, the Communist Party from 1944 until his death in 1973. Both the FBI and MI5 held substantial files on him. Picasso’s political commitment and its implications for his work represent the last undiscovered territory in the study of the artist.

 

Rather than treating him as an isolated titan of modern art, this book considers Picasso as a history painter and looks at key works from 1944 to 1973. Precisely dated, the works can be connected to world events of the time, from Franco’s activities in Spain to the Cuban missile crisis. A key image is the Dove of Peace, which became the emblem of the Peace Movement in the 1960s.

 

This important book reinstates a key element in our understanding of Picasso.