THE COLLECTION
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973)
The Charnel House
- Date:
- Paris, 1944-45
- Medium:
- Oil and charcoal on canvas
- Dimensions:
- 6' 6 5/8" x 8' 2 1/2" (199.8 x 250.1 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Mrs. Sam A. Lewisohn Bequest (by exchange), and Mrs. Marya Bernard Fund in memory of her husband Dr. Bernard Bernard, and anonymous funds
- MoMA Number:
- 93.1971
- Copyright:
- © 2013 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
2008
The Charnel House was Picasso’s most overtly political painting since Guernica of 1937 (now in the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid). Echoing Guernica in its pyramidal composition and abstracted forms, it was inspired by newspaper war photographs, the tones of which are reflected in its somber black–and–white palette. The central jumble of figures—a murdered family sprawled beneath a dining table—might suggest the piles of corpses discovered in Nazi concentration camps upon their liberation. While Guernica, a commentary on the Spanish Civil War, may be seen as signaling the violent beginning of World War II, The Charnel House marks its horrific end.
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