"Utley provides the first account in English of the intricate relations between the French Communist Party and its artists in the years immediately following the Liberation. She then examines in detail the role Picasso played within the Communist agenda, his financial and moral support, his active participation at Party events, and his artistic endorsement of the Party's most important ideological positions during the Cold War years. Addressing Picasso's unfailing loyalty in the face of both the Party's untenable political positions and the opposition within the Party to his art, this book offers new insight into aspects of the artist's thought and art that have been little considered before."--BOOK JACKET.