Color lithograph, Arches paper, 49 x 64 in light passe - partout size 60 x 75 cm
Signed from plate p.d.: "Picasso" and dated from plate "10 mai 1962".
Publisher: "Edition pour le Paix" or "Le Mouvement de la Paix" (Movement for Peace) for the World Congress for Universal Disarmament and Peace in Moscow in July 1962. Executed by Atelier Mourlot in Paris (it was a renowned atelier with which Picasso worked closely on most of his lithographs).
"The Dove of Peace" (French: La Colombe), which has become one of the world's most recognizable symbols of peace. The origin of this important motif dates back to 1948, when Picasso was in Breslau for the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace.
According to an anecdote, during the Congress in Breslau, the artist sketched the first pigeon on a napkin at the Monopol Hotel restaurant. This drawing is often referred to as the "Dove of Peace." It was this work that was chosen for the poster of the 1949 World Peace Congress in Paris, gaining immense popularity.
The dove with an olive branch in its beak is a traditional symbol of peace, referring to the biblical story (Noah's Ark). In the context of Picasso and post-war Europe, the symbol took on strong anti-war and political overtones. Picasso's father, José Ruiz y Blasco, often painted pigeons, and the young Pablo himself, as the anecdote goes, completed one of his paintings that featured pigeons: the melancholic painting "Child with a Pigeon" (1901) is well known. The artist also created paintings such as "Woman with a Pigeon" (1930) and "Child with Pigeons" (1943). However, it was the post-war "Dove of Peace" symbol, simple in form yet powerful in expression, that became his icon and a symbol of hope in the world. "Dove of Peace" from the May 10, 1962 work was originally designed as a poster for the World Congress for Universal Disarmament and Peace (Congrès mondial pour le désarmement général et la paix), held in Moscow from July 9-14, 1962.
