Picasso's 'Massacre in Korea', First Domestic Exhibition in Early May

May Seoul Arts Center Special Exhibition
'Massacre in Korea' Unveiled
Painted After Encountering Korean War Reports
Previously Banned as 'Anti-American Agitation'

Pablo Picasso, 'Massacre in Korea', 1951, Oil on plywood (Photo by Viche Art Museum)

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The Cubist painter Pablo Picasso (1881?1973), who represents the 20th century, painted "Massacre in Korea," a work based on the Korean War, which is being introduced in Korea for the first time.

The exhibition planning company Biche Art Museum announced on the 30th that from May 1 to August 29, a special exhibition titled "Picasso 140th Anniversary Special Exhibition" will be held at the Hangaram Art Museum in the Seoul Arts Center, Seocho-gu, Seoul. The exhibition is titled "Into the Myth" and features over 110 works from the collection of the Mus?e National Picasso in Paris, France.

Among the works exhibited, the one that draws attention is "Massacre in Korea." This painting was completed by Picasso in January 1951 and was first unveiled at the "Salon des M?tiers" held in Paris in May of that year. Although Picasso never visited Korea, he painted this work after seeing reports about the war.

In the painting, on the left side, there are naked figures including a pregnant woman, a child fleeing in shock, and a child playing with dirt without understanding the situation. On the right side, soldiers are depicted standing like robots, aiming guns and knives at them. It is unclear who the perpetrators and victims are. This work vividly depicts the brutality of war without revealing the subject and is considered one of Picasso's three major anti-war masterpieces along with "Guernica" (1937) and "The Charnel House" (1944?1946).

"Massacre in Korea" is known to depict a massacre by U.S. forces in Sincheon County, Hwanghae Province during the Korean War in 1950, and was even listed among banned artworks in Korea until the 1980s for allegedly inciting anti-American sentiment. At the time of creating the work, Picasso was a member of the French Communist Party along with many intellectuals. Regarding this, the Mus?e National Picasso reportedly stated to Biche Art Museum that "Picasso did not paint this with any specific incident in mind."

In addition, Picasso's representative works such as "Portrait of Marie-Th?r?se," "Paul in Pierrot Costume," as well as oil paintings, prints, and ceramics will be exhibited. The exhibition chronologically introduces works from Picasso's youth in the early 1900s to his twilight years in the 1960s, covering his entire life.

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