How Picasso once wished Stalin a Happy Birthday
In 1949, out of the blue, Pablo Picasso sent greetings to the then 70-year-old Stalin on his birthday.
Pablo Picasso sent greetings at the request of the French General Confederation of Labor for their magazine ‘La Vie ouvrière’. Picasso was a member of the French Communist Party and a devoted communist.
The artist confined himself to allegory: He drew a hand with a raised wine glass with the inscription: "A ta santé, Staline!" ("To your health, Stalin!").
But, his fellow comrades in the party saw such familiarity as derogatory and condemned the drawing. The Communist Party didn't like Picasso very much anyway for his unrealistic manner, which was viewed as alien to communists. At the same time, it willingly accepted financial support from him.
Incidentally, the hand with the wine glass was not the "worst" of Picasso's birthday greeting ideas. Once, he wanted to paint a heroic canvas with a naked Stalin, but, fearing the wrath of his fellow party members, changed his mind.
