La Guerre

Pablo Picasso, 1952

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About This Work

Executed in 1952, La Guerre (The War) is a monumental and powerful mural-scale painting by Pablo Picasso, measuring an immense 470 by 1020 centimeters, housed in the Musée national Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et la Paix in Vallauris. Executed in oil on wood and isorel, the composition depicts a terrifying allegorical tableau of armed conflict. A sinister hearse-like catafalque is pulled by three caparisoned war horses trampling and devouring an open book with flames, symbolizing totalitarian hostility toward culture and knowledge. The vehicle is driven by a horned figure wielding a bloody cutlass and carrying a hood piled high with human skulls. In sharp, luminous contrast, the lower background shifts to a serene and calming blue field where a naked peace defender stands fearlessly. This peace figure holds a spear supporting the scales of justice and a white shield bearing a dove of peace, behind which the subtle, serene portrait of the artist's companion, Françoise Gilot, emerges like a watermark.

Created in 1952, La Guerre was conceived as part of Pablo Picasso's monumental decorative cycle La Guerre et la Paix (War and Peace), installed in a deconsecrated Romanesque chapel in Vallauris, southern France, which the artist transformed into a dedicated Temple of Peace. During the post-World War II era, Picasso became deeply politically active and joined the Peace Movement, channeling his art into profound statements against militarism and global conflict. The imagery draws on classical and apocalyptic iconography while incorporating contemporary anxieties, such as the threat of nuclear and bacteriological warfare referenced by menacing shapes on a nearby dish in the installation. The inclusion of prehistoric handprints echoing Lascaux cave paintings further connects modern political violence to primordial human history. Maintained by the Musées nationaux des Alpes-Maritimes, this monumental work stands as one of Picasso's most ambitious public declarations of humanism, uniting political conviction with monumental artistic mastery. The documented holding collection is Musée national Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et la Paix, Vallauris, France; its direct institutional object record (https://musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes.fr/picasso/en/collection/objet/war) is retained as the factual source for the catalog entry and its provenance trail.

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