Picasso's works produced in the early 1950's are being exhibited in the Musée National Picasso in Vallauris until October 5th 1998. The theme of the exhibition is War and Peace and centers on Picasso's production in Vallauris between 1948 and 1954. It was in 1952 that the artist painted War and Peace which was installed in a chapel dubbed the Temple of peace and which later constitued the chore of the museum. Picasso painted this work on panels after several trials on the chapel's arched ceiling. These were exhibited in Milan in 1953 before their final installation in February 1954. The museum was inaugurated five years later but the work was not considered as a masterpiece then. All the more, the theme was political as during these days Picasso, as a communist sympathiser, painted the peace dove and a painting titled "Massacres in Korea". At that time the artist was hailed by communist newspapers and writers, notably Aragon and Eluard. "Massacres in Korea" was quite a macabre work on one side of the chapel's wall while on the other Picasso trated the theme of felicity with bathers, children, a flute player, birds, golden apples with a winged horse above sea waves. Picasso did not seem really at ease to produce this work and probably tried to erase the effects of "Guernica", his first political work which had been the source of so many misunderstandings. The result was a hybrid combination of a work of genius and tentative efforts as if the artist was at a loss regarding his inspiration. His flirtation with the communist party at that time soon met an abrupt end after he painted Stalin's portrait shortly after the death of the Soviet party. Such work did not please party officials who expected something more idealistic away from the free interpretation he offered. After that episode, Picasso understood he had nothing to do with communism or any other form of polical doctrine. It however took him several years to come to this conclusion following his revolt which he expressed in "Guernica", a masterpiece which had made him believe he could act as a peace messenger . Picasso only forgot that he could not work according his own way once he had adopted communist feelings. Still he was not the only artist or writer to fall into that trap ignoring how communism really functioned and thus until Krushev started to denouce Stalin's harsh methods in the late 1950's. This exhibition is however much useful in that sense that it enables to show to what extent a great artist can lose his own way by adhering to totalitarian ideals.
Picasso's works produced in the early 1950's are being exhibited in the Musée National Picasso in Vallauris until October 5th 1998. The theme of the exhibition is War and Peace and centers on Picasso's production in Vallauris between 1948 and 1954. It was in 1952 that the artist painted War and Peace which was installed in a chapel dubbed the Temple of peace and which later constitued the chore of the museum. Picasso painted this work on panels after several trials on the chapel's arched ceiling. These were exhibited in Milan in 1953 before their final installation in February 1954. The museum was inaugurated five years later but the work was not considered as a masterpiece then. All the more, the theme was political as during these days Picasso, as a communist sympathiser, painted the peace dove and a painting titled "Massacres in Korea". At that time the artist was hailed by communist newspapers and writers, notably Aragon and Eluard. "Massacres in Korea" was quite a macabre work on one side of the chapel's wall while on the other Picasso trated the theme of felicity with bathers, children, a flute player, birds, golden apples with a winged horse above sea waves. Picasso did not seem really at ease to produce this work and probably tried to erase the effects of "Guernica", his first political work which had been the source of so many misunderstandings. The result was a hybrid combination of a work of genius and tentative efforts as if the artist was at a loss regarding his inspiration. His flirtation with the communist party at that time soon met an abrupt end after he painted Stalin's portrait shortly after the death of the Soviet party. Such work did not please party officials who expected something more idealistic away from the free interpretation he offered. After that episode, Picasso understood he had nothing to do with communism or any other form of polical doctrine. It however took him several years to come to this conclusion following his revolt which he expressed in "Guernica", a masterpiece which had made him believe he could act as a peace messenger . Picasso only forgot that he could not work according his own way once he had adopted communist feelings. Still he was not the only artist or writer to fall into that trap ignoring how communism really functioned and thus until Krushev started to denouce Stalin's harsh methods in the late 1950's. This exhibition is however much useful in that sense that it enables to show to what extent a great artist can lose his own way by adhering to totalitarian ideals.
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