Picasso: Peace and Freedom

Product DescriptionPicasso, Peace and Freedom reveals a radically different figure from the one often presented in art historical accounts. In it we meet a politically and socially engaged artist, who joined the French Communist Party in October 1944 and remained a member until his death in 1973. Actively engaged in the Peace Movement, for which he was a prominent spokesperson, his work during this period chronicled human conflict and war but also expressed a deep desire for international understanding and equality.After the Second World War, Picasso, already widely recognised as the worlds greatest living artist, emerged as a celebrated political figure and hero of left-wing causes. His Dove of Peace became the international emblem of the Peace Movement and a symbol of hope during the Cold War period. He was a tireless campaigner for freedom and justice, contributing generously both to the Party and a range of humanitarian causes.Picassos political commitment and its implications for his work can be seen as one of the last undiscovered territories in the study of the artist. A wealth of new material and research makes a direct link between his art and his politics. Picassos habit of precisely dating his works means that each can be aligned with world events that were unfolding at the time, whether the Fascist victory and dictatorship in Spain, the Liberation of France, the Algerian War of Independence or the Cuban Missile Crisis.Alongside masterworks related to the themes of war and peace from the 1940s onwards, this richly illustrated book features posters, prints, drawings, ceramics and an extensive range of ephemera including contemporary letters, archival documents, period publications and newspapers.About the AuthorLynda Morris is a senior lecturer at Norwich University College of the Arts. Christoph Grunenberg is director of Tate Liverpool.