The Palais des Nations has a new artistic
treasure – or maybe it is an old one. Hard
to tell, really, given its odd disappearance
from the scene for close to 70 years.
Now, however, UN staff and visitors can
gaze on the large tapestry “La Paix” while
climbing the stairs to the left after entering at
Porte 6. There, the lost artwork, which shows
a mythical figure of Peace rising with the sun
and awakening the people, takes up
an entire marble wall in the stairwell.
The story began in 1930, when
French foreign minister Aristide
Briand offered to the then League of
Nations a tapestry to be produced
by the celebrated Gobelins artisans.
The images were drawn by painter
Emile-Othon Friesz between 1933
and 1935 to illustrate the theme of “Peace offering the peoples and
nations the means to know la joie
de vivre”.
Already hard enough to conceptualize
and paint, the entire image
then had to be transformed into a
tapestry at Gobelins.
Friesz chose to portray a semiclad
female figure striding through a
country scene, the sun at her back,
bringing the people the joy of peace.
In May 1935, he delivered his work
to the Manufacture des Gobelins; in
April 1937, the firm had finished the
weaving on the final product.
Then, as World War II loomed, “Peace” disappeared from view. And
it stayed invisible for years after that
conflict.
The mystery of the missing tapestry
resurfaced when Jean-Claude
Pallas, former chief of buildings at
UN Geneva, mentioned the missing
Briand gift in his encyclopedic work
Histoire et architecture du Palais
des Nations, 1924-2001. Taking up
the challenge, a French mission official
tracked down the tapestry in
2004; it had been stored in a French
national heritage building.
Finally, on September 5th, the
tapestry was officially installed at
the Palais des Nations, with the
blessing of France’s Culture Minister
and a crowd of worthies. To crown the
return of the 1930s artwork, the ceremony
tied its placement at Porte 6 with the nearby
Salon français beside the assembly hall on
the first floor, which was opened in 1936.
Better late than never … although Peace
seems tardy everywhere.
English adaptation of La Paix text by David Winch.
