An exhibition of Picasso's works for the press opened on February 14th 2000 at the Château Grimaldi in Antibes. Picasso first produced satirical drawings for the press in 1901 and 1902 at a time when he was expressing anarchist feelings. Such works notably represented prostitutes and loose living women in a style reminiscent of that of Toulouse-Lautrec or A.T Steinlen. Picasso then did not produce any drawing for the press during over forty years until he collaborated in 1944 with the Communist daily L'Humanité and the Eternelle Revue magazine run by Paul Eluard during the occupation of France by the Nazis.
His drawings showed the fluidity and synthetic approach of his oil works produced during that period with an economy of lines, which resulted in much soberness.
On October 5th 1944 Picasso announced his decision to become a member of the French Communist party and started to collaborate with several Communist newspapers until 1967. All his drawings were produced to protest against what he felt were injustices or in order to come to the help of newspapers which could therefore increase their sales thanks to his celebrity.
Picasso thus protested against the war in Indochina, the execution of the Rosenberg couple in the U.S and the war in Korea or celebrated the 10th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in January 1955.
In publishing in 1953 a portrait of Stalin in the “Lettres Françaises”, a few days after the death of the Soviet leader, Picasso stirred polemics among Communist circles as such portrait provoked the anger of many Communist officials who felt there was no true likeness in it. Despite such criticisms Picasso continued to help the Communist press with a special commitment for the “Patriote” magazine to which he offered a drawing every year from 1958 until 1967 for the Nice carnival enabling that organ to reach a maximum circulation during that event.
Picasso's engagement in favour of the Communist Party was somewhat uneasy from time to time notably during the Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956 and regarding his opinion about the debate on social realism in art which he loathed. He however remained faithful to the part during almost 30 years. This exhibition is due to last until March 19th 2000.
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