Yes, there is one — just one — Picasso work on display now in the International Art Academy of Palestine (IAAP) in Ramallah.
It is Picasso’s Buste de Femme (1943), which the IAAP says is one of Picasso’s “most iconic works”, on loan from the collection of the Van Abbe museum in Eindhoven (in the Netherlands).
The IAAP says, in their invitation to the exhibit, that “The work is one of the most outspoken examples of Picasso’s expressionistic period — a period in which he spoke out in response to the Spanish Civil War. Perhaps through his work we are able to talk about and imagine conditions in relation to cultural rights and struggles in other places and times too”.
[It should be noted that the Spanish Civil War — in which an estimated 500,000 died in battles and purges between conservatives allied with fascists who eventually won against an elected socialist government — was fought from 1936 to 1939, and Picasso’s Guernica was one of the most famous artistic works inspired by that cruel conflict. It is perfectly possible that Picasso was still inspired by the Spanish Civil War in 1943, when he painted this Buste de Femme now on display in Ramallah — but it is more likely that the horrors elsewhere in Europe during the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, just might have occupied greater place in his consciousness at that time…]
Picasso’s Buste de Femme (1943) is on view at the IAAP in Ramallah, behind the Arab Bank branch, across from the Friend’s School football field, until 22 July.
UPDATE: It is with mixed feelings that we report, on 21 July, that the IDF spokespersons unit has announced here that this exhibition of Picasso’s Buste de Femme could not have taken place without their “facilitation” and “coordination” — as if we could have forgotten, for an instant that the West Bank is under a full Israeli military occupation, and that the only real ruler of the West Bank is the Israeli Defense Minister, who at the moment is Ehud Barak.
“For the past month, the International Academy of Art Palestine (IAAP) in Ramallah exhibited the $4.3 million painting, allowing Palestinians to experience the most valuable work of art to have ever been exhibited in the area. As part of a larger project, IAAP documented its experience in requesting, transferring, exhibiting and returning the famous work of art”.
Apparently, the exhibit ended on 21 July (though the Palestinian announcement said it would continue “until 22 July”.
Among its good works in this connection, the IDF noted that “Due to special circumstances, Israel waived the mandatory 15% security deposit on all important artwork”. In its press release, the IDF noted that the painting was worth $4.3 million — which means that if Israel had applied its own mandatory requirement in the West Bank, the Palestinian Art Academy would have been required to post a deposit of $675,000…
The IDF press release notes that “Today [21 July], the Israeli Civil Administration assisted in the passage of Pablo Picasso’s famous painting, ‘Buste de Femme’, 1943, coordinating its shipment from Ramallah to the Netherlands“.
Another useful thing we learn from this press release is that “The Israeli Civil Administration was pleased to contribute to this endeavor and will continue to assist in all future artistic and cultural efforts”.
More than that, this press release gives us a very useful working definition of what the “Israeli Civil Administration” actually is: “The Israeli Civil Administration is a government and IDF body, which runs local Palestinian civil matters and cares for their well-being. The administration is composed of Israelis, Palestinians, IDF soldiers and officers and others from around the world. It does not work with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”.
Who, do you suppose, are the “others from around the world”???
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