Picasso's only mural produced in England acquired by the Wellcome Trust

2 April 2007

The UK's largest medical research charity, the Wellcome Trust, has acquired the only mural produced in England by Pablo Picasso from London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).

The mural, known as 'Bernal's Picasso', will go on display to the public as part of Wellcome Collection, a new £30m venue in London exploring the connections between medicine, life and art, due to open on 21 June at 183 Euston Road, London.

The purchase of the artwork and opening date of Wellcome Collection were announced today by Clare Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History at the Wellcome Trust. She explained: "The mural's history sparked our interest here at Wellcome Collection as it marks a particular and harmonious moment in the relationship between an artist and scientist."

Bernal's Picasso was drawn by Picasso in November 1950 while visiting the home of his friend, eminent scientist Professor John Desmond Bernal, and depicts the head of a man and woman with laurel wreaths and wings.

Professor John Desmond Bernal was an eminent Irish scientist who worked on X-ray crystallography and took the first X-ray photographs of protein crystals. Yet it was his political beliefs that attracted as much attention and led to his friendship with Picasso.

While taking up a lectureship at Cambridge University in the 1930s, Bernal also joined the Communist Party and served as president of the newly formed Cambridge Scientists' Anti-War Group. His activism did not always endear him to the authorities at the time, although in later years he was invited to become one of the government scientific advisors during the Second World War. Bernal was responsible for the activities around making preparations for the D-day landings, including studying physical characteristics of the Normandy beaches selected for the landings.

However, Bernal remained a peace activist at heart and it was through this that he formed his relationship with Picasso. The pair met in 1950 when the British Peace Committee attempted to host the World Peace Congress in Sheffield City Hall. The attempt failed and a number of delegates were stranded in London, including Picasso. As a compensation for their thwarted efforts, Bernal organised a party in his flat in Torrington Square and it was there that Picasso drew the mural on the wall of Bernal's sitting room.

Eventually the mural was saved from Bernal's flat, which was due to be demolished, and in 1969 Professor Bernal presented the mural to the ICA. It was displayed publicly for a number of years, and then went on loan to the Clore Management Centre at Birkbeck College, where it has remained ever since.

Both the ICA and the Bernal Family have always believed in keeping this important piece of work in the public domain. As the ICA has no permanent collection space it was a priority to find an accessible and visible home for the mural. Significantly too, the work's symbolic reference to the link between science and art reflects both the interests of the Wellcome Trust and the ICA. The purchase follows on from a series of highly successful partnerships between the ICA and the Wellcome Trust, and is likely to lead onto further opportunities for collaboration.

Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes for the Wellcome Trust comments: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to add this work to Wellcome Collection. The story of the relationship between two great figures in the worlds of arts and science, which lies behind its creation, is a fascinating one that strikingly resonates with one of the major themes of Wellcome Collection – to deepen our understanding of the relationships between medicine, life and art."

Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director, Institute of Contemporary Arts: "It was very important to the ICA that Bernal's Picasso remained on public display. It's especially fitting that its new home is a centre dedicated to the relationship between art and science. I'm sure the mural will continue to inspire generations in the future as it has over past decades. We are also very grateful to Birkbeck College for their kind and careful guardianship of this key work."

The Wellcome Trust has purchased 'Bernal's Picasso' from the ICA for £250 000.

'Bernal's Picasso' can be viewed in Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, from 21 June 2007 onwards. Access to the venue is free.

Contact

Mike Findlay
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
T 020 7611 8612
M 07878 893588
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk

For media enquiries relating to Wellcome Collection:
Will Kallaway
Kallaway
T 020 7221 7883
E will.kallaway@kallaway.co.uk

Notes for editors

1. A crystallographer is a person who uses the crystallised form of something in order to investigate its shape and structure in very small dimensions. This usually involves using electromagnetic radiation (commonly X-rays or an MRI/NMR machine) to create an image of how the radiation looks when it has passed through the crystal. The technique was used to find the structure of DNA.

2. The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

3. Wellcome Collection, the Wellcome Trust's former headquarters on London's Euston Road, has been redesigned by Hopkins Architects to become a new £30m venue opening in summer 2007. Free to all, Wellcome Collection will explore the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. Wellcome Collection will house over 1200 exhibits across three galleries and use contemporary and experimental techniques to challenge and inspire visitors to consider issues of science, health and human identity through the ages. Wellcome Collection also includes the world famous Wellcome Library, a forum and events space, members' club, Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, café, and bookshop. The building will also house the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL.

4. Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
As home to some of the best new art and culture in Britain, and from around the world, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is the meeting point for artistic exploration and audience engagement, examining the questions that shape culture, society and individual lives. As such, it is one of the world's most innovative and historically influential contemporary art institutions.

The ICA believes in creative adventure, in exploration and discovery, and in art as inspiration. Ultimately the ICA is not so much a place as a principle, a belief in the new with an enduring faith in the power of creativity.