Massacre in Korea

Painting by Pablo Picasso

Massacre in Korea

Artist| Pablo Picasso
Year| 1951
Medium| Oil on plywood
Dimensions| 110 cm × 210 cm (43.3 in × 82.7 in)
Location| Musée Picasso, Paris

Massacre in Korea (French: Massacre en Corée) is an expressionist painting completed on 18 January 1951 by Pablo Picasso. Picasso's third anti-war painting after Guernica and The Charnel House, Massacre depicts a scene of a massacre of a group of naked women and children by a firing squad. It has been considered to be a condemnation of American intervention in the Korean War.[1][2][3] The painting was exhibited in the Musée Picasso in Paris.

## Background

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Massacre in Korea is the third in a series of anti-war paintings created by Picasso. It was preceded by the monumental Guernica, painted in 1937, and The Charnel House, painted from 1944 to 1945. The title of this painting refers to the outbreak of the Korean War, which had started in the previous year, yet the subject matter is ambiguous, as Picasso does not point directly to a period or location within the composition.[4]

Picasso was exposed to the effects of war throughout his entire life and this had a direct impact on his artwork. From a young age, he began to include war motifs in his work. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Picasso was deeply affected by it, which led to his painting of Guernica in 1937. Although Picasso did not take part in any war or serve as a soldier, he would use his artwork to make political statements. He claimed that his artwork was a "journal" that documented not only his personal life, but also the conflicts of his era. World War II marked a period of major upheaval and during this period, Picasso lived in occupied Paris. When France was liberated from the German occupation, he became committed to using his art for political statements. His post-war art therefore displays anti-war images and symbols of peace.[5] Reports of German atrocities in the Holocaust are also thought to be the main inspiration behind the unfinished Charnel House, though its content was drawn from Picasso's experiences in Spain similar to Guernica.[6]

## Description

[edit]

The painting may depict an event similar to the No Gun Ri Massacre in July 1950, when an undetermined number of South Korean refugees were massacred by U.S. soldiers, or the Sinchon Massacre of the same year, a mass killing carried out in the county of Sinchon, South Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Massacre in Korea depicts civilians being killed by anti-communist forces. The art critic Kirsten Hoving Keen says that it is "inspired by reports of American atrocities" in Korea.[7] At 43 inches (1.1 m) by 82 inches (2.1 m), the work is smaller than his Guernica, to which it bears a conceptual resemblance as well as an expressive vehemence.[8]

Picasso's work is influenced by Francisco Goya's painting The Third of May 1808, which shows Napoleon's soldiers executing Spanish civilians under the orders of Joachim Murat.[7] It stands in the same iconographic tradition of an earlier work modeled after Goya: Édouard Manet's series of five paintings depicting the execution of Emperor Maximilian, completed between 1867 and 1869.

Francisco Goya, The Third of May 1808, 1814, Museo del Prado

As with the Third of May, Picasso's painting is marked by a bifurcated composition, divided into two distinct parts. To the left, a group of naked women and children are seen situated at the foot of a mass grave. A number of heavily armed "knights" stand to the right, also naked, but equipped with "gigantic limbs and hard muscles similar to those of prehistoric giants." The firing squad is rigidly poised as in Goya. In Picasso's representation, however, the group is manifestly helter-skelter – as was often apparent in his portrayals of armored soldiers in drawings and lithographs – which may be taken to indicate an attitude of mockery of the idiocy of war. Their helmets are misshapen, and their weaponry is a mishmash amalgamation of the instruments of aggression from the medieval period to the modern era; not quite guns nor lances, they perhaps most resemble candlesticks. What is more, none of the soldiers have penises. This representational feature is highlighted by the pregnant state of the women on the left side of the panel. Many viewers have interpreted that the soldiers, in their capacity as destroyers of life, have substituted guns for their penises, thereby castrating themselves and depriving the world of the next generation of human life. Along with Guernica and The Charnel House (1944–45), this is one of Picasso's works that he composed to depict the politics of his time.[9]

## Significance and legacy

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Massacre in Korea is often overlooked and overshadowed in cultural consciousness by Guernica. It is more literal in its visual storytelling than the fragmented symbolism of the earlier, more famous work. When the painting was first viewed in 1951, it was not well received. Isabelle Limousin, exhibition curator, explained that the work was dismissed, as "too easy, too readable for contemporaries of the artist", yet she considers it to be "a very strong work".[10]

Museu Picasso de Barcelona describes the painting as, "one of Picasso's most important pacifist works in defense of human rights, beyond ideologies and sides."

Pierre Daix, an expert on Picasso, opined that the painting has "entered within the great tradition of paintings of cruelty, a 20th century version of the Massacre of the Innocents".[11]

## 2022 incident

[edit]

On 9 October 2022, two activists from the environmental pressure group Extinction Rebellion glued their hands to the painting using superglue while it was on loan to the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Their hands were attached to the perspex glazing protecting the painting and removed without damage to the artwork. The activists were arrested but later released without charge.[12]

## See also

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* Anti-American sentiment in Korea
* Bodo League massacre
* Dove – lithograph by Picasso (1949)
* List of massacres in South Korea
* No Gun Ri massacre

## References

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1. ^ David Hopkins, After Modern Art: 1945–2000 (Oxford University Press, 2000), p.15. ISBN 0-19-284234-X, ISBN 978-0-19-284234-3
2. ^ Picasso A Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art, edited by William Rubin, copyright MoMA 1980, p.383
3. ^ Ingo F. Walther, Pablo Picasso, 1881–1973: Genius of the Century (Taschen, 2000), p. 94. ISBN 3-8228-5970-2, ISBN 978-3-8228-5970-4
4. ^ Lentini, Damian. "Massacre en Corée (Massacre in Korea)". Haus Der Kunst. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
5. ^ "Picasso and War" (PDF). Musée de l'Armee Invalides. February 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
6. ^ Daix 1987, p. 281
7. ^ a b Keen, Kirsten Hoving. "Picasso's Communist Interlude: The Murals of War and Peace". The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 122, No. 928, Special Issue Devoted to Twentieth Century Art, July, 1980. p. 464.
8. ^ Boeck & Sabartés, p. 302.
9. ^ Nicholas John Cull, David Holbrook Culbert, David Welch, Propaganda and mass persuasion: a historical encyclopedia, 1500 to the present (ABC–CLIO, 2003), p.156. ISBN 1-57607-820-5, ISBN 978-1-57607-820-4
10. ^ Grovier, Kelly (20 June 2019). "Picasso: The ultimate painter of war?". BBC Culture. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
11. ^ "Massacre in Korea, the Guernica of the Cold War". Museu Picasso de Barcelona. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
12. ^ Ore, Adeshola (2022-10-09). "Prized Picasso 'unharmed' after Extinction Rebellion activists glue hands to painting in Melbourne". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2023-04-23. Retrieved 2022-10-14.

## Sources

[edit]

* Daix, Pierre (1987). Picasso. London: Thames & Hudson.

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Pablo Picasso

Periods|

* Blue (1901–1904)
* Rose (1904–1906)
* African (1907–1909)
* Cubism (1910–1919)

Lists of works|

* 1889–1900
* 1901–1910
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* Picasso's written works

Paintings|

* Le petit picador jaune (1889)
* Science and Charity (1897)
* Le Moulin de la Galette (1900)
* The Appointment (1901)
* Child with a Dove (1901)
* La Gommeuse (1901)
* Yo, Picasso (1901)
* Portrait of Jaime Sabartés (1901)
* The Blue Room (1901)
* Femme aux Bras Croisés (1901–1902)
* Old Jewish Man with a Boy (1903)
* The Old Guitarist (1903)
* La Vie (1903)
* Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (1903)
* Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904)
* The Actor (1904–1905)
* Woman Ironing (1904)
* Girl in a Chemise (c. 1905)
* Acrobat and Young Harlequin (1905)
* Family of Saltimbanques (1905)
* Garçon à la pipe (1905)
* Girl on a Ball (1905)
* Les Noces de Pierrette (1905)
* Au Lapin Agile (1905)
* Young Girl with a Flower Basket (1905)
* Famille d'acrobates avec singe (1905)
* Boy Leading a Horse (1905–1906)
* Portrait of Gertrude Stein (1905–1906)
* Head of a Young Woman (1906)
* Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)
* Woman with a Fan (1908)
* Brick Factory at Tortosa (1909)
* Woman with a Fan (1909)
* Femme et pot de moutarde (1910)
* Girl with a Mandolin (1910)
* Portrait of Ambroise Vollard (1910)
* Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1910)
* The Accordionist (1911)
* Le pigeon aux petits pois (1911)
* La Coiffeuse (1911)
* Violon et Raisins (1912)
* Bottle, Glass, Fork (1912)
* Ma Jolie (1912)
* Still Life with Chair Caning (1912)
* Arlequin (1913)
* Ma Jolie (1914)
* Three Musicians (1921)
* Reading the Letter (c. 1921)
* The Pipes of Pan (1923)
* The Three Dancers (1925)
* Woman in a Red Armchair (1929)
* Le Repos (1932)
* Girl before a Mirror (1932)
* La Lecture (1932)
* Le Rêve (1932)
* Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932)
* Nude in a Black Armchair (1932)
* Femme à la montre (1932)
* Two Girls Reading (1934)
* Jeune Fille Endormie (1935)
* Guernica (1937)
* Portrait of Dora Maar (1937)
* Woman in Hat and Fur Collar (1937)
* The Weeping Woman (1937)
* Girl with a Red Beret and Pompom (1937)
* Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) (1937)
* Maya with Doll (1938)
* Woman's Head (1939)
* Dora Maar au Chat (1941)
* The Charnel House (1944–1945)
* Nature morte au poron (1948)
* Massacre in Korea (1951)
* Les Femmes d'Alger series (1955)
* Las Meninas (1957)
* The Fall of Icarus (1958)
* Bust of a Seated Woman (Jacqueline Roque) (1960)
* Jacqueline (1961)
* Femme au Chien (1962)

Sculptures|

* Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) (1931)
* Tête de femme (Dora Maar) (1941)
* Bull's Head (1942)
* Baboon and Young (1951)
* Figure découpée (1963, 1964, 1965)
* Chicago Picasso (1967)
* Sylvette (1970)

Etchings|

* Vollard Suite (1930–1937)
* Minotaur Kneeling over Sleeping Girl (1933)
* Minotauromachy (1935)
* The Dream and Lie of Franco (1937)
* 347 Series (1968)

Drawings|

* Girl from Majorca (1905)
* Don Quixote (1955)
* Toros y toreros (1961)

Lithographs|

* Le Taureau (1945–1946)
* Dove (1949)

Murals|

* Regjeringskvartalet murals

Plays|

* Desire Caught by the Tail (c. 1941)
* The Four Little Girls (c. 1947–1948)

Poetry|

* Picasso's written works

Ballet designs|

* Picasso and the Ballets Russes
* Parade
* The Three-Cornered Hat
* Pulcinella
* Le Train Bleu
* Mercure

Museums|

* Musée Picasso (Paris)
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* Museo Casa Natal (Malaga)
* Château de Boisgeloup (Normandy)

Partners|

* Fernande Olivier
* Marie-Thérèse Walter
* Dora Maar
* Françoise Gilot
* Geneviève Laporte

Family|

* Olga Khokhlova (first wife)
* Jacqueline Roque (second wife)
* Maya Widmaier-Picasso (daughter)
* Claude Picasso (son)
* Paloma Picasso (daughter)
* Diana Widmaier Picasso (granddaughter)
* Marina Picasso (granddaughter)
* Bernard Ruiz-Picasso (grandson)
* José Ruiz y Blasco (father)

Residences
(France)|

* Bateau-Lavoir (Montmartre Paris)
* Villa La Vigie (Juan-les-Pins, Summer 1924)
* Château de Boisgeloup (Gisors, 1930–1937)
* Château of Vauvenargues (Vauvenargues, 1958–1962)
* Villa La Californie (Cannes, 1955–1961)
* Château de Vie (Mougins, 1961–1973)

Films and
television about|

* Visit to Picasso (1949)
* Guernica (1950)
* The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
* The Adventures of Picasso (1978)
* Surviving Picasso (1996)
* Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death (2001)
* Modigliani (2004)
* Genius (2018 TV series)

Related|

* Carles Casagemas
* Carl Nesjar
* Lydia Corbett
* Lump (dog)
* Fundación Picasso
* Picasso. In the heart of darkness (1939–1945) (2019–2020 exhibition)
* Picasso & Lump (2006 book)
* Picasso referendum of Basel
* Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria
* Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1915 painting)
* "If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso" (1924 poem)
* The Picasso Summer (1969 film)
* Woman, Bird, Star (Homage to Pablo Picasso) (1973 painting)
* "Pablo Picasso" (1976 song)
* The Blue Guitar (1977 etchings)
* Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993 play)
* Picasso (crater)

Authority control databases |

* Joconde

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