From bold calls for nonviolence to vibrant portrayals of people living in harmony, the United Nations’ vast collection of art reflects the institution’s dedication to forging a more peaceful world.
The inspiring art collection of 400 works of art, many of them gifts from U.N. member states, will be visible as world leaders walk the U.N. headquarters’ storied halls during the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level week September 23–27, in New York. Many pieces are on public display for much of the year, while others are in U.N. headquarter areas accessible only for official business.
Here are a few of the works of art from a U.N. collection that encourages peace, diplomacy, unity and goodwill. Artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd sculpted his “Non-Violence” or “Knotted Gun” after the 1980 assassination of John Lennon.
“I became so upset and angry over his death and many other outbursts of unnecessary violence that I went right to my studio and started working on the project,” he said. The gun is cocked and ready to fire, yet its knotted barrel symbolizes that violence will not prevail.
Luxembourg’s government purchased and gifted the above version of the sculpture to the U.N. in a 1988 ceremony attended by Lennon’s widow, the artist Yoko Ono. The version, one of three in the world, reminds visitors to U.N. headquarters of the pointlessness of violence.
Pope John Paul II gifted this “Replica of Dove of Peace” mosaic on behalf of the Holy See during a 1979 visit to the U.N. The Vatican Mosaic Studio crafted the portrait based off the fragment of a 12th-century mosaic discovered in the Old Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican.
Displayed in a bronze frame that dates to 1796, the dove — a symbol of hope, love and peace — carries an olive branch in its beak and soars towards a brighter horizon. First lady Nancy Reagan, on behalf of the U.S. government, gifted “The Golden Rule“ mosaic to the U.N. in 1985 for the 40th anniversary of its founding.
“The mosaic depicts people of every race, religion and gender in a scene of peace and harmony above the famous inscription “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Coop Mosaic Artistico Veneziano based the mosaic on a painting by 20th-century American artist Norman Rockwell. Rockwell’s original was inspired by former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s vision of a post-World War II world.
Two massive paintings — each 10.4 x 14 meters (34 x 46 feet) — face each other in the General Assembly building and offer starkly opposing conditions under which people live. “Peace,” pictured above, depicts children playing in harmony with onlookers bathed in golden light. On the opposite wall hangs “War,” warning against violence and its consequences.
The Brazilian government presented the two paintings by artist Candido Portinari to the United Nations in 1957. In 2015, then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the art painted on cedar panels as “Portinari’s call to action.
Thanks to him, all leaders who enter the United Nations see the terrible toll of war — and the universal dream for peace.” Lumen Martin Winter’s “Titans,” hangs in the General Assembly building and depicts five giants — symbolizing the five continents — moving the world from darkness to light.
The United Nations commissioned the painting in 1971 to commemorate the first World Youth Assembly, held the year before. The United Nations had described the World Youth Assembly as paving “the way for a better understanding among youth designed to contribute to efforts for bringing about peace, justice and progress in the world.”
Winter painted in dots and dashes to evoke a TV screen and used a bright palette to convey an optimistic vision. The World Youth Assembly donated “Titans” to the United Nations in 1973.
Rung twice annually — on the first day of spring and the opening of the U.N. General Assembly — the Japanese Peace Bell is cast from coins that 60 nations’ delegates to the United Nations donated during the 13th U.N. General Assembly in 1951. Japan’s Tada Factory completed the bell a year later.
It is located in a garden on the grounds of U.N. headquarters. When presenting the peace bell in 1954, Japan’s Observer to the U.N. Renzo Sawanda said: “The bell embodies the aspiration for peace not only of the Japanese but of the peoples of the entire world.”
