Existing comment:
Pablo Picasso
The Charnel House, 1944-45
Echoing Guernica in its composition, abstracted forms and political content, The Charnel Housewas 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. |