02/27/2026
During this time, Pablo Picasso was living in Paris during the occupation of France in WW2.
He chose to remain in the city even though his work was condemned by the occupying authorities as “degenerate art,” and he lived under constant scrutiny. He was not arrested, but he was regularly questioned and monitored.
His painting Guernica, completed in 1937, had already become one of the most famous anti war artworks in the world. It was inspired by the aerial attack on of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish conflict, which was carried out by the Germany's Condor Legion in support of forces led by Francisco Franco.
The original painting itself was not in France during the occupation. Picasso had arranged for it to remain outside Spain until democratic rule returned, so it was kept for decades at the Museum of Modern Art. It was only transferred to Spain in 1981, years after Franco’s rule ended, and it is now housed at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain.
