Buste de Femme, 1943, Pablo Picasso
How do you get a Picasso painting into a war zone?
Very carefully!
Radio Netherlands reported that the Dutch museum, Eindhoven’s Van Abbe is lending the 1943 canvas “Buste de Femme” to the Ramallah international art academy.
Pablo Picasso’s “Buste de Femme”, a $7 million painting is housed in a special temperature-controlled room in Ramallah. The West Bank is one of the most dangerous places in the world and security precautions will be extraordinary to enable the people in this war torn region to have a rare opportunity to view the Picasso cubist painting.
The valuable artwork traveled from Netherlands to the West Bank for 24 hours in highly secured conditions involving heavy arms and armor. Museum officials requested journalists to accompany the canvas wall art on its journey into the West Bank in an attempt to thwart an ambush.
It is believed to be the first time a Picasso masterpiece will go on display in the Palestinian territories. The “Picasso In Palestine” exhibition is a joint project between the Van Abbe and the Ramallah academy. The Picasso canvas wall art made its first public appearance in June 24th. The exhibit is scheduled to run till April.
A film is due to be produced featuring the painting’s journey, including crossing the Israeli border and other checkpoints. View the video below that features part of its journey into the Palestinian war zone.