Category talk:Chicago Picasso

Chicago Picasso: Communism the Monstrous Mother

I was there at the unveiling of the Chicago Picasso in 1967. It originally had a plaque naming it the MADONNA OF THE FUTURE. Chicago had been an ardent communist after the incident which led to his GUERNICA, in which a whole town was wiped out by fascists. As the years went by Picasso became less and less enchanted with Communism because it was every bit as murderous as fascism. By the 1960's he created this cor-tin sculpture in front of the Hancock Building in Chicago, a Mies Van Der Rhoe skyscraper that is extremely minimalist and masculine, with no frills. When the veil was pulled away that day in 1967, many of the people walked away muttering, especially the women. While a masterpiece, the sculpture is also monstrous. It's name, the MADONNA OF THE FUTURE, was misunderstood as a slam against the great mother, the Virgin Mary. But it was actually not that at all. It was a slam against Communism as an ugly bureaucracy, an imposter standing in for all that is truly motherly and unconditional. Picasso could see by then that his beloved Communism was actually a bizarre monster mother. Far from offering free, unbounded love and care, this new archetype was actually a distortion of unconditional love. It always destroyed many times more than it built up. Gail French, Texas. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gfrench0575 (talk • contribs) 3 November 2020‎ (UTC)