Picasso and The German Occupation

Picasso had been politically sympathetic to the International Anarchist Movement since his formative years in Barcelona, his art often betrayed this, it was full of social commentary about the abject misery of the poor and deprived in a corrupt materialist society. By the 1920's, due to the decline of the Anarchist Movement and because of his close association with the Surrealists, who had affiliated themselves with the Communists, Picasso also began leaning toward Communism. Revolutionary art went hand in hand with revolutionary politics. During the Spanish Civil War Picasso sided with the Republicans, who in turn were supported by the Communists, and he openly supported their struggle against Franco and Fascism.

When the German Luftwaffe bombed the Basque town of Guernica in April 1937, the world was horrified at the destruction and loss of innocent civilian lives. Picasso took this opportunity to show the world what he thought and in Guernica, his greatest painting, he used symbolic forms to demonstrate his loathing for all that Fascism represented, though he characteristically denied this afterwards in an interview with Jerome Seckler. Picasso was not disposed to giving any of Guernica's secrets away.

In the same year as a part of Hitler's programme against 'degenerate art', Picasso's paintings, as well as those of many other well known modern artists, were subjected to ridicule, destruction and widespread public denouncement. Such art was considered by the Nazis as damaging to the moral fabric of their society.

The German authorities clearly knew of Picasso's loathing for Fascism as soon as Guernica was exhibited at the 1937 Universal Exhibition. It was a public denouncement of Hitler and Fascism that was to echo around the world.

When the German army occupied France in 1939, Picasso defiantly stood his ground despite being the leading 'degenerate' artist in the world. German officers sometimes called at his studio and interrogated him about his activities and about rumours of him being Jewish but he was never hounded or arrested and his work was never confiscated.

By this time perhaps Picasso was no longer seen as a threat. But as a foreigner with Communist affiliations and as the painter of Guernica, he was in a very precarious position.

This begs the question, why did the Germans not put an end to Picasso when they had an ideal opportunity to do so ?

Arno Breker, Hitler's favourite sculptor, denied ever interceding with the Germans on Picasso's behalf, but it seems likely that someone, somewhere, may have been protecting him during the Occupation. Because of Picasso's fame, the authorities may have thought it wise not to make him a martyr. Considering the international embarrassment that Picasso appears to have caused the Germans, if such a decision had been made, it would almost certainly have first been referred back to Hitler.

Picasso's decision to sit out the Occupation despite the evident dangers has never been satisfactorily explained.

© Mark Harris 1996

For more information about this period in Picasso's life, read: Picasso and His Art During The German Occupation 1939-1944, Mary Margaret Goggin, Stanford University Phd, 1985, University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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