Ode to peace

Guernica remains one of Pablo Picasso's most iconic anti-war works. Now, another painting by the Spanish artist, also calling for peace, is drawing the attention of visitors to the National Art Museum of China. The work, titled Soldier with Bird, depicts an elderly soldier offering water to a white dove.

The painting is now on display at Ode to Peace, an exhibition running through to Aug 12, cohosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the national art museum.

It displays nearly 80 paintings, sculptures, prints and watercolors from the two institutions' collections. It also explores how artists from diverse eras and cultural backgrounds approach the universal theme of peace through different media and styles.

Also on view is the exhibition's namesake painting, Ode to Peace, a 4-meter-long Chinese ink work created in 1955 by renowned artists such as Qi Baishi, He Xiangning, and Yu Fei'an. Done in the traditional flower-and-bird style, it presents a vivid, idyllic scene bursting with blossoms, trees and birds.

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