brazil first republic

Guerra e Paz (War and Peace)

Two large-format tile murals by Cândido Portinari, 1956. Donated by the Brazilian government to the United Nations, the murals hang in the main lobby of the United Nations building in New York City. War (14 × 10 meters) depicts the horror and suffering of armed conflict — skeletal figures, ruins, mothers holding dead children. Peace (same dimensions) depicts a world of harmony, work, and human dignity. Executed in traditional azulejo (painted ceramic tile) technique, connecting to Ibero-Brazilian artistic heritage.

Scholarly Significance

Portinari's War and Peace murals at UN Headquarters — highest-profile Brazilian artwork in international diplomacy context.

Notes

·Portinari was a Communist Party member; the UN commission was politically complex given Cold War tensions.
·The tile technique (azulejo) roots the work in Portuguese-Brazilian colonial artistic heritage.
·Portinari died in 1962 from lead paint poisoning accumulated over his career.