Paul Eluard and Pablo Picasso shared a close friendship up until the poet's death in 1952. Since they met in the mid-1930s until the end of the poet's life, Eluard could be considered the painter's best friend.
Eluard, a devoted art lover and connoisseur, frequented art circles and was close to many artists, about whom he voiced and wrote his views. In turn, some of them, like Picasso, illustrated his poems.