ピカソの「ゲルニカ」　１年ぶり国連に復活

【国連本部ＡＦＰ＝時事】米ニューヨークの国連（ＵＮ）本部の壁から突然撤去され、関係者を当惑させていたスペインの巨匠パブロ・ピカソの傑作「ゲルニカ」のタペストリーが５日、所有者のロックフェラー家によって約１年ぶりに元の場所に戻された。（写真は米ニューヨーク国連本部に飾られたパブロ・ピカソの傑作「ゲルニカ」のタペストリー）
　国連情報筋によると、幅７．５メートルの巨大なタペストリーは５日朝、各国首脳や大使が通る安全保障理事会議場前に再び飾られた。外交官たちからは安堵（あんど）の声が聞かれた。
　「ゲルニカ」は、スペイン内戦中の１９３７年４月２６日に北部バスク地方の町ゲルニカで、ナチス・ドイツとイタリアのファシスト政権が行った無差別爆撃を描いた作品。
　タペストリーは１９５５年、ネルソン・Ａ・ロックフェラー氏がピカソに相談の上でフランスの工房に制作を依頼。ロックフェラー家から国連に貸与され、外交関係者に戦争の悲惨さを強く思い起こさせる反戦の象徴となっていた。
　しかし、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大を受けて国連職員の多くが在宅勤務せざるを得なくなっていた昨年２月、タペストリーは説明もなく撤去され、突然のことに驚いたアントニオ・グテレス国連事務総長が「ひどい、とんでもないことだ。タペストリーがなくなってしまった」と述べていた。
　ネルソン・ロックフェラー・ジュニア氏は、米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズに５日掲載されたインタビューで「伝達ミス」があったと認め、撤去はタペストリーに洗浄と保存処理が必要だったためだと示唆した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/02/08-10:50）

One year after its sudden and disconcerting disappearance from a wall at the United Nations, a vast tapestry representing Picasso's iconic Guernica has been returned by owners the Rockefeller family to its prominent place at the global body.
The rehanging of the immense weaving was underway Saturday morning, a UN source said, as diplomats expressed relief about the return of the 25-foot-wide (7.5-meter) work which hung outside the Security Council chambers, where presidents, prime ministers and ambassadors would regularly pass.
The tapestry was commissioned by Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1955 and woven in a French studio in consultation with Picasso, who did his original Guernica painting during the Spanish Civil War. It represents the bombardment of the Spanish city of that name on April 26, 1937 by German Nazi and Italian fascist forces.
The Guernica tapestry with its probing symbolism -? its depiction of horrific aspects of human nature -- wrestles with the cruelty, darkness, and also a seed of hope within humanity, Nelson Rockefeller Jr. said in a UN statement announcing the artwork's return.
I am grateful that the tapestry will be able to continue to reach a broader segment of the world's population and magnify its ability to touch lives and educate.
On loan to the UN by the Rockefellers, it was meant to serve as a powerful reminder to UN diplomats of the horrors of war. Screaming women, a dead baby and a dismembered soldier are rendered in ominous shades of brown and black.
But in February 2021, as the Covid-19 crisis was sweeping the globe and thousands of UN employees were forced to work from home, the tapestry vanished without explanation.
It's horrible, horrible, that it is gone, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, himself surprised by the sudden disappearance.
In a letter to the Rockefellers in December, Guterres welcomed the upcoming reinstallment at the UN.
We are honored to serve as careful stewards of this one-of-a-kind iconic work -- as we draw inspiration from its message, he wrote, according to the UN statement.
In an interview published Saturday in The New York Times, Nelson Rockefeller Jr. acknowledged a miscommunication -- indicating that the tapestry had needed cleaning and preservation work.
Guernica is on loan to the UN with the provision that the family can reclaim it to be shown in exhibits in the United States or elsewhere for up to six months.