Picasso's artful occupation (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)
THEATRE NEWS
Watford playwright Ian Buckley on his latest London show,
Picasso's Artful Occupation
A scene from
Picasso's Artful Occupation
In June 1940,
the German army marched into an undefended Paris, signally the end of organised
French military resistance and the beginning of the division and occupation of
France. Many Jews, academics and artists had fled before the Nazis, but one
man, the world’s most famous living artist at that time, decided to stay.
Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973) was unable to return to Spain because of his support of the
Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, so he made the difficult decision to
remain in Paris under occupation. But his status and talent were probably what
saved him, even though the Nazis had branded him a ‘degenerate artist’.
In September
1940, the artist was called to the Bank of Commerce and Industry in Paris,
where he stored his paintings, by the German occupation authorities, to carry
out an inventory of his work – and now a playwright from Watford picks up the
story when Picasso is down in a bank vault with two Nazi officers.
“They’re
starting to inventory his work, and he’s worried,“ says Ian Buckley, a former
head of the department of performing arts at West Herts College, “why are they
doing this? What are they going to do with them? Though the Germans condemned
what they called degenerate art, they still stole it and sold it and kept the
money, so he’s worried and wants to get out of this situation.“
In Picasso’s Artful Occupation, Ian, 68, has the
legendary artist playing the two German officers against each other in a bid to
confuse and distract them, and convince them that his collection is worthless.
“It must have
been a strange existence,“ muses Ian, who retired from teaching 13 years ago to
concentrate on his writing. “On the one hand, the Germans more or less left him
alone to paint and it was an intensely creative period for him. But then I
think he did suffer some privations – things like coal became very difficult to
get.
“But I suppose
there was always a slight danger for him. I can’t believe he would definitely
have known he was safe, or that he knew the Germans were going to leave him
alone, so it must have been a very tense time.“
·
Picasso’s Artful Occupation is at Barons Court Theatre, Comeragh Road, West Kensington, W14 until Sunday, March 30.
Details: 020 8932 4747, ianbuckley.info