Pray For Peace

#74015     61 X 76 cm     Color Etching

• Filippo Lippi: “Virgin and Child with Two Others”. Uffizi, Florence
• G. Rouault: “The old King”, 1937. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
• Picasso: “Horse’s Head”, 1937

Chen again uses the shrieking horse’s head from Guernica to symbolize the worst demons and catastrophes and evils that men set loose upon themselves.The Guernica lightbulb casting its white illumination represents peace. The desire for goodness, brotherhood, and peace is represented by the Madonna and her prayer. The king, a Rouault figure, is indifference – the non-caring neutral, whether in the War in Heaven or strife upon earth.Through a small window in the upper right we catch a snatch of Miro representing burning, war, and holocaust. Chen frequently works out his compositions by beginning with sketches and a watercolor, but as with any artist the definitive version may be substantially changed.

by Lawrance Jeppson