Original Picasso Poster Deuxieme Congres National De La Paix 1950 - Mourlot

This is an original large-format stone lithographic poster created by Pablo Picasso in 1950 for the Deuxième Congrès Mondial des Partisans de la Paix — the second World Peace Congress, held in Sheffield and Warsaw. Printed by Mourlot Frères on Arches paper, the finest archival stock in the atelier's repertoire, this is a monumental piece: 120 × 80 cm of the most recognised peace symbol in the history of the 20th century, printed from the original stone by the master craftsmen who had worked with Picasso since 1945. It is a direct sequel to the iconic 1949 Dove that had taken the world by storm — and in many ways, the more powerful of the two.

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) had created his first Peace Dove in 1949 at the request of the poet Louis Aragon — a lithograph drawn from Henri Matisse's own pigeon, chosen in hours, printed by Mourlot overnight, and plastered across Paris before dawn. The image swept around the world within days. By 1950, the Dove had become the most reproduced image in the history of modern art, and Picasso — who had joined the French Communist Party in 1944 — was asked again to provide the symbol for the second Congress. This second Dove is larger, more confrontational, printed on the most prestigious paper available: not a hurried gesture but a considered statement, at the scale of a wall, intended to be seen from a distance and felt up close.

What makes this piece exceptional, beyond its scale and its historical charge, is its technique: a traditional stone lithograph, drawn directly on the limestone by Picasso himself, printed by Mourlot with the fidelity that only this atelier could deliver. In 1950, at the height of the Cold War, this image was both art and manifesto — a declaration, in the most ancient printmaking technique available, that beauty and peace were inseparable. A Certificate of Provenance by Eric Mourlot accompanies this impression, confirming its authenticity and printing history.

The poster is linen backed and in overall good condition, with small restorations and tears visible on the sides — honest marks of a document that lived in the world it was made to change. See pictures for full condition details.

One of the most historically significant printed works of the 20th century — Picasso's Dove, on Arches, at monumental scale, certified by Mourlot.