The Fall of Icarus (Picasso)

Mural by Pablo Picasso

The Fall of Icarus

Artist| Pablo Picasso
Year| 1958
Medium| acrylic mural
Dimensions| 910 cm × 1060 cm (360 in × 420 in)
Location| UNESCO, Paris

The Fall of Icarus (originally titled The Forces of Life and the Spirit Triumphing over Evil or simply The UNESCO painting[1]) is a 1958 mural by Pablo Picasso. Made of 40 painted mahogany tiles covering 90m2, it is the artist's largest work. It was commissioned by UNESCO for the organisation's main foyer in Paris and was unveiled on 29 March 1958.[2]

## Background

[edit]

The mural was commissioned by UNESCO in 1957, with the purpose of decorating the Paris headquarters. Picasso was one of eleven artists who were chosen to undertake this task. Picasso began working on the commission in December 1957 and based his composition on his Bathers series from 1956. A scale model was completed on 29 January 1958, before the mural was finally presented two months later to Luther Evans, Director General of UNESCO and Georges Salles, the second President of the ICOM and Vice President of the Committee of art advisors. Originally the mural was titled The Forces of Life and Spirit Triumphing over Evil, but it was renamed by Georges Salles in 1958, who gave it the title The Fall of Icarus.[3]

The mural was first publicly displayed in the hallway of UNESCO's Bâtiment des Conférences on 3 November 1958 when the building was inaugurated.[4]

## Description

[edit]

The mural is immense in size, measuring nearly 100 square metres and comprising 40 wooden panels painted in acrylic. It depicts a beach scene that features several figures. On the centre left, a figure is shown to be falling from the sky towards the blue ocean. The mural was produced in segments that divided the work into four sections. Picasso used abstract forms to portray the figures in the mural in a similar style to the Bathers.[3]

## Interpretations

[edit]

The image has been interpreted in various ways, such as a possible depiction of the struggle between good and evil.[3] Picasso maintained that the mural is simply a scene of people bathing and also stated, "It is meaningless to look for things in paintings, what counts is finding things".[5] Christopher E. M. Pearson remarked that the mural "vaguely echoes the mythological theme of the fall of Icarus" and that the indifference displayed by the surrounding figures towards the falling central figure makes reference to Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.[6]

## See also

[edit]

External videos

Picasso unveiling the painting (1958), British Pathé

* The Fall of Icarus (disambiguation)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Di Lauro, Frances (2002). "Falling into the Dark Side: Ominous Motifs in the 'Fall of Icarus' Myth". The Dark Side: Proceedings of the Seventh Australian and International Religion, Literature and the Arts Conference. The Dark Side: 209–222.209-222&rft.date=2002&rft.aulast=Di+Lauro&rft.aufirst=Frances&rft_id=https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/SSR/article/view/212/192&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Fall+of+Icarus+(Picasso)" class="Z3988">
2. ^ Clark, T.J. (2016). "Picasso and the Fall of Europe". London Review of Books. 11 (38): 7–10.7-10&rft.date=2016&rft.aulast=Clark&rft.aufirst=T.J.&rft_id=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n11/tj-clark/picasso-and-the-fall-of-europe&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Fall+of+Icarus+(Picasso)" class="Z3988">
3. ^ a b c "PICASSO, Pablo (1881-1973):The Fall of Icarus 1958:The UNESCO works of art collection". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
4. ^ Clark, T. J. (2016-06-01). "Picasso and the Fall of Europe". London Review of Books. Vol. 38, no. 11\. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
5. ^ Barrin, Jacques de (2009-01-01). UNESCO: The Seeds of Peace. UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-104104-4.
6. ^ Pearson, ChristopherE M. (2017-07-05). Designing UNESCO: "Art, Architecture and International Politics at Mid-Century ". Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-56965-1.

## External links

[edit]

* The Fall of Icarus at the UNESCO Art Collection website

* v
* t
* e

Pablo Picasso

Periods|

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

Lists of works|

* 1889–1900
* 1901–1910
* 1911–1920
* 1921–1930
* 1931–1940
* 1941–1950
* 1951–1960
* 1961–1970
* 1971–1973
* 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)
* 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)
* Musée Picasso (Antibes)
* Museu Picasso (Barcelona)
* Museo Picasso Málaga (Malaga)
* 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)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa