The United Nations Art Collection is a collective group of

artworks A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literatur ...

and historic objects donated as gifts to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

by its member states, associations, or individuals. These artistic treasures and possessions, mostly in the form of “

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s”, are representative “arts of nations” that are contained and exhibited within the confines of the

United Nations Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States, and other duty stations, making the UN and its international territories a "fine small museum".Frommer's Review: United Nations, New York City Attractions, New York City, Travel Guides, NYTimes.com
retrieved on: August 2, 2007Marks, Edward B
''Art... At Home in the United Nations'', ''UN Chronicle'' United Nations Publications (1998), Gale Group (2004) and FindArticles.com, Winter 1998
retrieved on: August 2, 2007 Member states follow a protocol for presenting official gifts to the United Nations. Procedures, speeches, and ceremonies, such as the unveiling of these gifts, are conducted and coordinated by the Protocol and Liaison Service. Ideally, every member nation can only present one offering, and member nations are responsible for the installation of the offered artifacts.Presentation of Malaysia's Gift to the United Nations, Speech by Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, New York, September 25, 2003, PMO.gov
, retrieved on: August 2, 2007The Director-General, Protocol and Liaison Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, UNOG.ch (undated)
retrieved on: August 2, 2007 The official gifts to the United Nations by its member states epitomize the ideals, significance and values of the UN as an international organization.Moore, Lawri Lala

retrieved on: August 2, 2007

Collection

* In 1964, a 15 foot by 12 foot

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window by

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

entitled ''Peace'' was donated to the United Nations by its own staff members and by Chagall himself to commemorate

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

, who served as

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...

from 1953 until his death in 1961. The stained glass memorial contains numerous symbols representing love and peace themes.Chagall Stained-Glass, United Nations Cyber School Bus, United Nations, UN.org, 2001
, retrieved on: August 4, 2007 * In 1952, a pair of

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as " tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, p ...

murals was installed in the General Assembly Hall. * The

United Nations Security Council mural The United Nations Security Council mural is an oil painting by Norwegian artist Per Krohg exhibited at the United Nations in New York City since August 22, 1952. The mural, a 16' x 26' foot long canvas located on the United Nations Security Counc ...

, by Per Krohg, was also installed in 1952 * ''War and Peace'', two paintings by Brazilian artist

Candido Portinari Candido Portinari (December 29, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was a Brazilian painter. He is considered one of the most important Brazilian painters as well as a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting. Portinari ...

. It does not feature any weapons, but instead features the suffering of victims from war, which illustrates the barbarity of combat. The contrast between the elements of chaos and harmony show how important it is to maintain peace and attempt to end violent conflicts. * In 1985, as a representative of the United States, then first lady

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in Ne ...

presented a mosaic to the United Nations to celebrate the organization's 40th anniversary. The ''Golden Rule'' mosaic was a creation of Venetian artists and was based on a painting by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the ...

. Depicting people of all races, religion, creed and hue, the mosaic imparts the message to " do unto others as you would have them do unto you".Norman Rockwell Mosaic, United Nations Cyber School Bus, United Nations, UN.org, 2001
, retrieved on: August 4, 2007 * The

Japanese Peace Bell The Japanese Peace Bell is a bell donated to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City via the United Nations Association of Japan in June 1954. It is a bonsho (a Buddhist temple bell) that is 60 centimeters in diameter, 1 meter in height ...

was presented to the United Nations in June 1954 by the United Nations Association of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It was cast from coins collected by people from 60 different countries including children, and housed in a structure resembling a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

shrine, made of cypress wood. The bell is rung twice a year: on the first day of Spring, at the Vernal Equinox, and on 21 September to coincide with the opening of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

. * In 1959, a

bronze statue Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements ...

promoting the slogan '' Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares'' was donated by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

to the United Nations. It was sculpted by

Evgeniy Vuchetich Yevgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich (–12 April 1974) (russian: Евгений Викторович Вучетич; uk, Євген Вікторович Вучетич, ''Evhen Viktorovych Vuchetych'') was a prominent Soviet sculptor and artist. He is ...

to represent the human wish to end all wars by converting the weapons of death and destruction into peaceful and productive tools that are more beneficial to mankind.Swords Into Plowshares, United Nations Cyber School Bus, United Nations, UN.org, 2001
, retrieved on: August 4, 2007 * In 1966 a copy of the Nigerian artist

Ben Enwonwu Odinigwe Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu MBE (14 July 1917 – 5 February 1994), better known as Ben Enwonwu, was a Nigerian painter and sculptor. Arguably the most influential African artist of the 20th century, his pioneering career opened the ...

's sculpture ''

Anyanwu Anyanwu (''anyaanwū'', meaning "eye of the sun" in Igbo) is an Igbo solar deity and a surname given to people of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Anyanwu is also the name given to a major character in the Octavia E. Butler's ''Patternist series ...

'' was presented to the United Nations by the permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Chief Simeon Adebo, to Secretary-General

U Thant Thant (; ; January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. He held t ...

. It is a representation of the Igbo mythological figure and earth goddess Ani. It is cast from bronze and is 6 ft in height. * In 1996, '' Sphere Within Sphere'' by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, was presented as a gift to the UN by

Lamberto Dini Lamberto Dini CGMG (born 1 March 1931) is an Italian politician and economist. He was the Director General of Bank of Italy from 1979 to 1994, Minister of Treasury from 1994 to 1996, the 51st Prime Minister of Italy from 1995 to 1996, and Forei ...

, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy. * A life-size

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

copy of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

's ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the m ...

'', by Jacqueline de la Baume Dürrbach, is displayed on the wall of the

building in

, at the entrance to the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

room. * '' Single Form'' is a sculpture done by

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a lea ...

in 1964 as a memorial to the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld after his death in an air crash in Africa in 1961. File:UN art 1.JPG, ''Dove of Peace'', presented by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, on the occasion of his visit to the United Nations, 2 October 1979 File:UN Japanese Peace Bell 2.JPG, The

, 1954 File:Schwerter zu Pflugscharen - Jewgeni Wutschetitsch - Geschenk der Sowjetunion an die UNO - 1959.jpg, ''Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares'' by Yevgeny Vuchetich, 1959. File:NYC UN Gift of Italy.jpg, '' Sphere Within Sphere'', by Arnaldo Pomodoro, 1996 File:Guernica at the Whitechapel - geograph.org.uk - 1593698.jpg, The ''

'' tapestry, by Jacqueline de la Baume Dürrbach, on loan to the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 2009 File:Single Form, UNO New York.JPG, '' Single Form'',

s 1964 sculpture is displayed in the pool in front of the United Nations Secretariat Building File:Non-Violence sculpture in front of UN headquarters NY.JPG, ''

Non-Violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

'', 1985 sculpture by

Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd (4 June 1934 – 3 May 2016) was a Swedish painter and sculptor. He studied with Fernand Léger in Paris 1951 and was a professor of painting at The Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm 1965–1969. In 1974 he was a guest ...

Conservation and maintenance

The main entity responsible for the conservation of the collection is the UN Arts Committee. The United Nations is assisted, through a special mandate and regulations, by fundraising groups such as the Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation in this endeavor of preserving these artistic and international heritages.Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation
, CelestialSphere.ch, 2005, retrieved on: August 2, 2007 However, about 50 gifts, partly close to dissolution, are stored in the basement; and in some cases, have been so for decades.Frithjof Ehm
"Art of the World. The Art Collection of the United Nations"
, in: ''Prague Leaders Magazine'' N° 1/2010, p. 77-79.

References

External links

{{Museums in Manhattan, state=collapsed Year of establishment missing Art museum collections Headquarters of the United Nations Museums in Manhattan Art museums and galleries in New York City Collections of museums in the United States Diplomatic gifts United Nations art collection

Collection

Conservation and maintenance

See also

References

External links