THEATRE NEWS
Watford playwright Ian Buckley on his latest London show,
Picasso's Artful Occupation
9:00am Saturday 15th March 2014
in Theatre News By Rosy Moorhead
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.“
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Picasso’s Artful Occupation is at Barons Court Theatre, Comeragh Road, West Kensington, W14 until Sunday, March 30.
Details: 020 8932 4747, ianbuckley.info