Pablo Picasso?

[R_P_A_S]

I was wondering if you guys heard if Pablo Picasso was ever a communist or supported communism? some of his paintings and works were very anti-fascism. dont you guys think?

[Leo]

He was a Communist Party member, apparently later on his beliefs turned into some sort of an anarcho-communism, yet he still remained a party member.

[R_P_A_S]

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo?

[Leo]

Frida was close to Trotskyism, later she denounced it and became a Stalinist. Diego Rivera was also left-wing, I know that he painted pictures of Lenin etc. but I don't know from which variety he was from. Possibly close to Trotskyism at one point.

[R_P_A_S]

Frida seem kinda crazy nah?

[kjt1981]

Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole, though.

[midnight marauder]

Diego Rivera was also a communist, yes. In fact, if I remember correctly Trotsky for a period of time actually lived with Rivera, but the two just couldn't get along.

Ah, the things they don't teach you in art classes!

[Rawthentic]

Im not sure, but I believe that Rivera was a Mexican Communist Party member at the time.

[encephalon]

frida and trotsky had an affair.

Picasso was an asshole, contrary to an above post.

[R_P_A_S]

I feel EXTREMELY deprived! I have always heard of Diego Rivera and known of his work. being Mexican and all I guess it made me feel proud! But to be honest with you the paintings that they showed us and made us focus on were the aztec ones and the ones with the ladies in the markets and with the flowers.

I'm doing some research on him now on my own and I found out dude was a communist, he painted this bomb mural for rockerfeller and he smashed it cus Rivera wouldn't take Lenin out of it.
And there's also various paintings of the soviet union, hammer and sickle in some of them. What a great painter this guy huh?

I can't believe no one ever told me he was a communist.

leads to what I ALREADY know. u cant count on asking people. u have to do the reasearch ur self!

[freakazoid]

Picasso was a communist? Didn't know that, but I guess I should of have guessed it from some of the paintings I have seen. This is good to know since I am doing a paper on him for my art appreciation class, which is do tomarrow. :(

[Lenin's Law]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2006 07:45 pm
I feel EXTREMELY deprived! I have always heard of Diego Rivera and known of his work. being Mexican and all I guess it made me feel proud! But to be honest with you the paintings that they showed us and made us focus on were the aztec ones and the ones with the ladies in the markets and with the flowers.

I'm doing some research on him now on my own and I found out dude was a communist, he painted this bomb mural for rockerfeller and he smashed it cus Rivera wouldn't take Lenin out of it.
And there's also various paintings of the soviet union, hammer and sickle in some of them. What a great painter this guy huh?

I can't believe no one ever told me he was a communist.

leads to what I ALREADY know. u cant count on asking people. u have to do the reasearch ur self!
Oh yes. Rivera was a communist; in fact you should read the story of how he tried to have a picture of Lenin in a mural that he was commissioned to make in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller didn't like it, told Rivera to get rid of it, Rivera refused and his job was terminated after being paid in full for his work.

Wouldn't that have been amazing though? A picture of Lenin inside a major attraction in New York?

Here is the paining by the way - http://www.fbuch.com/crossroa.htm

[Lenin's Law]

Picasso's history is actually a bit murky. Throughout the Spanish Civil War and the fight with fascism there and in WWII, he never took arms against one side or another or even declared his support for one side or another; although he was critical of the fascists. There are rumors that he was a pacifist although it's not confirmed or denied.

Here is an exerpt from Wiki describing some of this:


Picasso remained neutral during the Spanish Civil War, World War I and World War II, refusing to fight for any side or country. Picasso never commented on this but encouraged the idea that it was because he was a pacifist. Some of his contemporaries (including Braque) felt that this neutrality had more to do with cowardice than principle. As a Spanish citizen living in France, Picasso was under no compulsion to fight against the invading Germans in either world war. In the Spanish Civil War, service for Spaniards living abroad was optional and would have involved a voluntary return to the country to join either side. While Picasso expressed anger and condemnation of Franco and the Fascists through his art he did not take up arms against them.

[shadowed by the secret police]

Einstein was a socialist

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Einstein.htm

[Red Menace]

Originally posted by shadowed by the secret [email protected] 27, 2006 02:30 pm
Einstein was a socialist

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Einstein.htm
he was a democratic socialist. He often spoke out against the soviet Union. He followed people like Ghandi. I don't respect him any less, he was a genius, and he was a fellow leftist.

[MolotovLuv]

I don't know about Picasso, but I love Salvador Dali's work and when I looked him up on wiki it mentioned he was an anarchist communist.

[R_P_A_S]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27, 2006 11:59 pm
I don't know about Picasso, but I love Salvador Dali's work and when I looked him up on wiki it mentioned he was an anarchist communist.
i heard he supported Francisco Franco

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Any decent analysis of a Rivera paintaing will reveal at very least his glorification of the peasentry and the working class.

War made Pablo sad, but I don't think his political convictions extended beyond that very much.

[Phalanx]

He was, and an active supporter at that.

counterpunch.org (http://www.counterpunch.org/navarro12062003.html)

In his youth he was a Communist sympathizer, but once Franco killed the Revolution, he became an ardent fascist.

[Hiero]

With famous figures of the 20th century alot of people like to claim they are communist, anarchist or what not. But alot of these claims are not backed up. The wikipedia articles, are consistant with the claims made in this thread.

There is the claim that Picasso was a communist and then become an anarcho communist. Now it should not be hard to know if he was a communist, party membership will prove this. However the claim he began to lean towards anarcho-communism is unsourced. Why isn't this sourced with an article published by Picasso, or any public statements. The author of the Wikipedia article even stated "No political movement seemed to compel his support to any great degree, though he did become a member of the Communist Party" and "But party criticism of a portrait of Stalin as insufficiently realistic cooled Picasso's interest in Communist politics, though he remained a loyal member of the Communist Party until his death.". It just doesn't make sense to say he wasn't really a communist, but he was a loyal member of the Communist party.

Then with Frida, it claims she was a Trotskyist, then later renounced Trotsky and become a Stalinist/Maoist. Again this not sourced. Surely she would produce an article or make a statement in public about her new found Maoism.

All this may be true, but alot of these claims are suspicious. I just wonder how many of this statements are biased in an attempt to claim another famous person to a political cause.

[zein al-abdeen]

picasso was a communist he drew staline in a very hard shape<so the communists all around the world attaked him,they were counting staline as the father of communism at that time&#33;&#33;,now we know that he even hated ART&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Ze]

Originally posted by [email protected] 27, 2006 12:45 am
I feel EXTREMELY deprived&#33; I have always heard of Diego Rivera and known of his work. being Mexican and all I guess it made me feel proud&#33; But to be honest with you the paintings that they showed us and made us focus on were the aztec ones and the ones with the ladies in the markets and with the flowers.

I&#39;m doing some research on him now on my own and I found out dude was a communist, he painted this bomb mural for rockerfeller and he smashed it cus Rivera wouldn&#39;t take Lenin out of it.
And there&#39;s also various paintings of the soviet union, hammer and sickle in some of them. What a great painter this guy huh?

I can&#39;t believe no one ever told me he was a communist.

leads to what I ALREADY know. u cant count on asking people. u have to do the reasearch ur self&#33;
its amazing how the US censors anything and everything that has to do with communism. try buying the communist manifesto or anything else written by Marx at barnes & nobles.

[Alejandro C]

I know I mean:

We found 1,302 items for keywords: karl marx.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...D=karl+marx&z=y (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=karl+marx&z=y)

Say what you want about the US, but the first amendment gives a lot of rights that many other countries don&#39;t have. Our first amendment was and still is a revolutionary idea. There&#39;s no censorship like that.

[BreadBros]

In his youth Dali claimed to be a communist and/or anarchist. He ditched Spain during the Civil War and France during WWII though. When he returned to Spain he openly claimed to support Franco. However, he also claimed to "support" Nicholas Ceuceuscu and sent him letters "praising" him that in hindsight appear to be surrealist or ironic mocking, so his "support" of Franco may also have been in the same light. He did continue to praise Federico Lorca despite Lorca being hated by Franco and being a leftist. In short, he was a determined surrealist who was mocking of all figures of authority, I guess. A lot of other surrealists were Marxist though.

[pastradamus]

Picasso Supported the basque independance movement as well as being a communist. His famous painting "guernica" is dedicated to the basque people.