The Charnel House

1944–1945

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Picasso referred to The Charnel House as the "massacre," but its subject remains up for debate. Some claim its source to be information about Nazi concentration camps; others point to a film the artist may have seen about the murder of a Republican family by Spain’s fascist government. Documentary photographs of the work in progress, taken in 1945, reveal the evolving facial expressions of the contorted figures, which were rendered in charcoal: Picasso applied paint only after fleshing out the bones of the picture. With its exposed areas of canvas and visible compositional changes, the work seems incomplete, yet Picasso considered it finished enough to donate to the National Association of Veterans of the Resistance in 1946. That same year, however, he asked for its return, ostensibly to make alterations. The painting remained with the artist until 1954, when it was sold to an American collector. If Picasso made any changes after 1946, they were minute.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: The Charnel House
Artist: Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)
Date: 1944–1945
Geography: Country of Origin France
Medium: Oil and charcoal on canvas
Dimensions: 78 11/16 × 98 7/16 in. (199.8 × 250.1 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mrs. Sam A. Lewisohn Bequest (by exchange), and Mrs. Marya Bernard Fund, in memory of her husband Dr. Bernard Bernard, and anonymous funds, 1971
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art