“How could you conceivably cut yourself off from other men and from the life they bring you in such abundance? In the name of what uncaring, ivory-tower kind of attitude?” Pablo Picasso said in a 1944 interview discussing the political nature of much of his painting. “No; painting is not there merely to decorate the walls of flats. It is a means of waging offensive and defensive war against the enemy." Picasso never felt comfortable with the false neutrality that many other artists espoused in the face of tyranny. Picasso: Peace and Freedom at the Tate Liverpool in London gathers together the political Picasso and provides a template for all thinking and feeling people on how to wage war artistically, to stand up for what you believe in, and, most importantly, to give peace a chance. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Give Peace a Chance."
[Image: Pablo Picasso. Dove in Flight in Rainbow, 23 October 1952. Lithograph 55.2 x 74.8 cm. Photo © Graphikmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster, Germany. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2010.]
[Many thanks to the Tate Liverpool, London, for providing me with the image above and press materials for Picasso: Peace and Freedom, through August 30, 2010.]
