«No, painting is not meant to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of offensive and defensive warfare against the enemy". This sentence of Pablo Picasso best sums up the role of complaint that art has had towards the horrors of war and the dictators who have been its supporters and protagonists. This was also the theme of the international conference, entitled "Art on the run from Hitler”, Held on 7 August at Brancaleoni Castle of Piobbico (PU). During the meeting, the painting of a master of the twentieth century representative Adolf Hitler, in a tribute to Paul Klee, one of the most censored and persecuted artists by Nazism. It is an ironic work, which incorporates the style of the German painter.
At the conference, sponsored byANPI Pesaro and Urbino, of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, From Jewish Community of Ancona, From 'The Sons of the Shoah Association, by the representatives of the UNESCO Club of Florence, Torino e Arezzo and by 'ENIT and from Regional Council of the Marche, attended by dr. Marco Renzi, author of various volumes on the Nazi-fascist massacres of the Second World War in the Apennine area, the vice-president of UNPLI Pesaro and Urbino, Matthew Martinelli, the vice president of ANPI Pesaro and Urbino, Matilda of the Furnace, the President of the Province Joseph Paolini, the Forensic Calligraph Expert, Stefano Fortunati, the international researcher and sculptor Andrew of Montefeltro, who oversaw the symbolic part of the work and the board member of the UNESCO Club of Florence, Annalisa DiMaria, among the world's experts on Leonardo da Vinci and the Neoplatonic Renaissance.
The Eye of the Snake
The work, according to experts between the 1935 and the 1937, was titled "The Eye of the Snake”(Because of the rattlesnake that marks the outline of the dictator's face, whose head is positioned right at the height of the nose). In this work Hitler was "caricatured" thanks to the inclusion of some elements not tolerated by Leader and the Nazi regime. Among these is the face makeup, lipstick on the lips , kite (Hitler hated tobacco). Also on the lips is the word "remain silent"(" Keep quiet "in German). This could indicate a willingness to keep the work secret, to prevent the author from being persecuted by the Nazis. According to experts, the hand behind the painting could be that of Pablo Picasso. The Forensic Calligraph Expert, Stefano Fortunati, then underlined how the "S”Initial coincides with Picasso's writing style.
Art on the run from Hitler: Picasso's homage to Paul Klee?
Among the supporters of this theory there is also the art expert Annalisa DiMaria. During his speech at the conference "Art on the run from Hitler", Di Maria explained that: «at the moment there are no certainties that the author could be Pablo Picasso. It is a difficult work in the study. The analysis then revealed a remaking of the outer edge probably caused by wear, perhaps there could be some evidence of an autograph signature there. The work deserves to be known, studied again and viewed by other experts in order to appreciate its importance. It certainly represents one of the most important works of the twentieth century as a critique of Nazism. A testimony of dissent, bearer of the truth of those horrors committed by one of the bloodiest dictators in history. Only a genius and a master of expressionism with a deep sense of biting irony could have created such a painting».
To know if Picasso is really the author of this work, several studies will still be needed, albeit many clues lead in this direction. Picasso and Klee in fact had a profound relationship mutual esteem. Let the author be Pablo Picasso or not, the work wants to be both a tribute to the German painter and a denunciation of Nazi-fascism. Unfortunately many artists like Klee have been persecuted and many wonderful works were destroyed (or hidden) during the darkest years of the twentieth century. L'Eye of the Snake can be considered a "small" jewel re-emerged from oblivion, but also a great example of how art can be an instrument of truth and aweapon to be used against the horrors of war and all dictatorships.
Featured photo: © Annalisa Di Maria.
