Picasso’s Anti-War Masterpiece ‘Guernica’ Tapestry Rehung At U.N. After Conservation, Will Be Loaned Globally

An anguished woman grasping a dead child gazes above, her eyes shaped like tears. A soldier clutches a broken sword and a flower, evoking helplessness, human frailty, and a desire to end suffering and combat. A bull simultaneously represents Fascist Spain and cultural tradition, the two mired in deadly conflict. Mouth agape, a wounded horse serves as the central figure, standing in for the  people of Guernica, a human skull overlaid on its body. A dove appears to be screaming, emphasizing the threat to peace. 

Symbolism and Surrealism collide as distressed, distorted, and dismembered Cubist figures depicted with a monochrome palette hint at realism and photography, underscoring the horrors of war.

Picasso’s Guernica tapestry, a replica of his famous painting, has been rehung outside the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York, after undergoing routine conservation led by the Textile Conservation Laboratory of The Cathedral of St. John the Divine which began in February 2021, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Jr. announced today. The Rockefeller family, the longtime steward of the tapestry, gifted it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation (National Trust), which plans to loan it for display around the world. 

The conservation lab was established in 1981 to maintain two sets of 17th century tapestries that were donated to the Cathedral, the Barberini Life of Christ and The Acts of the Apostles. The staff, led by Marlene Eidelheit since 1992, now helps to conserve textiles for major museums, private collectors, galleries, and corporate institutions in the United States. 

“The symbolism Picasso put together in this tapestry – the horrific carnage, the light bulb, the torch, the flower, the bull, and the volcano – wrestles with the cruelty and darkness of human nature while also offering the opportunity for people to choose how to respond and interpret the seeds of hope,” Rockefeller Jr., the son of former U.S. vice president and New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, who commissioned the tapestry, said via email. “Today the globe is facing the prospect of war and the relevance of this tapestry couldn’t be more timely, as it challenges people to respond. Yes, there is the prospect of horrific carnage and darkness flowing from authoritarian actions. However, there is an alternative choice of light, strength and conviction that leads to a better place for humanity.”

The original masterpiece, which is held by the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, is an unrivaled anti-war artwork exposing the Nazi aerial bombing of a Basque town. The monumental 25-foot-long canvas was used as a protest image by activists during the Vietnam War. Picasso painted the 1937 oil on canvas in about three weeks.

Nelson Rockefeller commissioned the colossal tapestry in 1955, and in 2003, it was concealed while former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell led a presentation on the war against Iraq. In 2009, the tapestry was displayed at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.

“We’re looking forward to the Guernica tapestry’s next chapter, its long-term loan with the U.N., but also to the ability to showcase this powerful artwork to a broad and diverse population, just as Picasso himself chose to send his original Guernica painting on an international tour in 1937,” said Paul Edmondson, President and CEO of the National Trust, a privately funded nonprofit organization.