Picasso. A subtle form of resistance to the justly passed regime

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is still one of the greatest contemporary artists of the 20th century. In Poland, Picasso's fascination stemmed from the fact that the artist was in Poland in 1948 at the Peace Congress. He declared himself a communist. He bought a Zakopane sheepskin coat for his then life companion, Francois Gilot. Later, he made the longest series of Francois lithographs in the same sheepskin coat. At one point, imitating Picasso became in Poland a subtle form of resistance to the power of the time. People hung Picasso curtains and tablecloths in the windows, young girls wore a'la Jacqueline Roque. The “Section” was widely bought, where there were always reproductions of Picasso that could be cut. In general, all abstract art at that time was perceived as Pikassian.

Dr. Anna Manicka, art historian, graduate of the University of Warsaw. Author of numerous publications and exhibitions, including Salvador Dali illustrator. Works from the collection of Hannelore Neumann and Helmut Rebmann, [with Dr. Dorota Folga], National Museum in Warsaw, hereinafter MNW, 2005 (cat.); Páréd fekete-blancben. Polish and Hungarian graphics 1918-1939, Dialogue in Black and White. Polish and Hungarian Prints 1918-1939 [with dr. Katalin Bakos], MNW-Nemzeti Galerie, Budapest, 2009 (cat.); Marc Chagall, MNW 2022. Author of the crime novel on a museum theme entitled Czuła Trucizna, Warsaw, ed. KLE, 2009. Once the owner of Timmmy's dachshund, she now shares a residence with a domestic aristocrat, a hedgehog named Monte Christo.