Update: Picasso mural acquired2 April 2007 |
A mural with a fascinating history involving two great figures in the worlds of science and the arts has been acquired by the Trust from London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).
'Bernal's Picasso', the only mural produced in England by Pablo Picasso, will go on display to the public from 21 June as part of Wellcome Collection, a new £30m venue in London exploring the connections between medicine, life and art.
Picasso drew the piece in November 1950 while he was visiting the home of his friend, eminent Irish scientist Professor John Desmond Bernal.
Professor Bernal, who took the first X-ray photographs of protein crystals, had joined the Communist Party while lecturing at Cambridge in the 1930s, and served as president of the Cambridge Scientists' Anti-War Group. Despite his communist politics, in later years he became a government scientific adviser and was responsible for D-day landing preparations such as studying the physical characteristics of the Normandy beaches.
The pair met after a failed attempt by the British Peace Committee to host the World Peace Congress in Sheffield City Hall. A number of delegates were stranded in London, including Picasso, so Bernal organised a party in his flat in Torrington Square. It was here that Picasso drew the mural on the wall of Bernal's sitting room.
The mural was saved from Bernal's flat when it was due to be demolished and in 1969 Professor Bernal presented the piece to the ICA.
Both the ICA and the Bernal family have always believed in keeping this important piece of work in the public domain, but the ICA has no permanent collection space.
'Bernal's Picasso' can be viewed in Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, from 21 June 2007 onwards. Access to the venue is free.