Picasso. War and Peace

This aspect of Picasso's work was particularly evident from the period of the Spanish Civil War on, and was clearly expressed in the mural Guernica, which was commissioned by the Republican government for the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris and has become an emblem of human suffering. The destructiveness of war is also expressed in all of the works related to Guernica. When Picasso joined the French Communist Party in 1944, he began a period of intense activity in defense of freedom and peace. These aspirations were reflected in the work he did during this period and led to his participation in the Peace Congresses held in Wroclaw (1948), Paris (1949) and London (1950). At the congresses, Picasso's drawings and lithographs of doves became an emblem of world peace. In addition to his involvement in the Peace Congresses, in 1945 Picasso started work on two huge panels entitled War and Peace. The project involved a great deal of preparatory work, and, in 1954, the panels were installed at a chapel in Vallauris. The humanism evident in the fifty or so drawings that Picasso did for the sculpture L'homme au mouton - the embodiment of the Christian good shepherd - also point to the context of war: the lamb represents the victims of war and the shepherd is the defender of peace and tolerance. L'homme au mouton evokes the Mediterranean tradition, a long reflection on the power of art in the face of terror. The exhibition Picasso. War and Peace will bring together paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and posters from museums, galleries and private collections around the world. Pressetext

Picasso. War and Peace
Pablo Picasso
Kuratorin: Maria Teresa Ocaña
Ausstellung im Rahmen von Forum Barcelona 2004