“The austere use of grisaille (monochromatic tones of grey, black and white) emulates the grainy newsreel and newspaper photographs of the period. Still lives executed during the last years of the Second World War are filled with animal skulls and that harbinger of death, the owl, to evoke traditional forms of vanitas and memento mori paintings…Other series, such as the War and Peace murals, reflect Picasso’s attitude to the cold war. His Las Meninas series (1957) viciously satirises–in the tradition of Goya–the Spanish monarchy and Franco’s bid to install the young exiled prince Don Juan as his puppet.” (Hubbard, 2010, p.47)
In one of the interviews Picasso gave, he’s admitted to his Socialist leanings as “the logical outcome of my whole life”. (Davis, 2010, p.3) It is appropriate, then, that the recently held art exhibition at Tate Liverpool was titled Picasso: Peace and Freedom. The painting Monument to the Spaniards who Died for France (1947) is a homage to the Republicans who escaped interment by joining the French Resistance. Its “ruddy blood reds and greys contrast dramatically with the more optimistic works in the same room – The Cockerel of the Liberation (1944) showing France’s emblematic bird in cheerful greens and yellows…Symbols of war and peace appear in works throughout his life, as emphasized in the exhibition.” (Davis, 2010, p.3)
Hence, in conclusion, as much as Picasso is an artist with bohemian tendencies, he is also a political activist. Not only is the evidence amply available in his works of art, but they are to be found in other artifacts related to him. For example, there are photographs of him speaking at peace conferences, newspaper clippings of the sketches he drew for publication in Les Lettres Francaises, pamphlets he made for Daily Worker, etc. What comes across most strongly “is the impression of a man who used his art to express his convictions, but who would not be swayed by the opinions of others without a fight.” (Davis, 2010, p.3)
Works Cited
Daix, Pierre. Picasso: Life and Art. Trans. Olivia Emmet. New York: Icon Editions, 1993.
Gavronsky, Serge. “Aragon: Politics and Picasso.” The Romanic Review (2001): 47+.
Hubbard, Sue. “War Paint: Sue Hubbard Explores the Politics of the 20th Century’s Greatest Artist.” New Statesman 28 June 2010: 47.
Kiaer, Christina. “Dreamworld and Catastrophe: the Passing of Mass Utopia in East and West / Picasso the Communist Years / French Modernisms: Perspectives on Art Before, during and after Vichy / Mario Sironi and Italian Modernisms Art and Politics under Fascism.” The Art Bulletin 85.2 (2003): 395+.
Davis, Laura, “Symbols of War and Peace Strike a Chord in Landmark Picasso Show.” Daily Post (Liverpool, England) 21 May 2010: 3.