Picasso, the FBI, and why he became a Communist

 I came across this clipping, Pablo Picasso’s "Why I became a communist," from Meyer Schapiro’s research files on Communism and art. Written in 1945 and sent by cable to the publication The New Masses (of which Schapiro was a contributor), Picasso wrote: "My joining the Communist Party is a logical step in my life, my work […]

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Codename: Agent Japonica & Ventriloquist

One of the joys of working in an archive is deciphering clues and ascertaining that certain identities are really who they are. For example, Who is Agent Japonica & Ventriloquist and is there a connection with Meyer Schapiro? As many of Schapiro’s friends, colleagues, and scholars know, he was an adamant supporter of the resistance […]

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