United Nations Security Council mural

Untitled (Mural for Peace)
ArtistPer Krohg
Year1952 (1952)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions5.5 m × 8.8 m (18 ft × 29 ft)
LocationHeadquarters of the United Nations, New York City
Websitewww.un.org/ungifts/untitled-mural-peace

Untitled (Mural for Peace), commonly known as the United Nations Security Council mural, is an oil painting by Norwegian artist Per Krohg exhibited at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City since August 22, 1952. The mural, an 18' x 29' canvas located on the UN Security Council chamber's east wall, features a central image of a rising phoenix surrounded by images of war and disharmony, near the mural's bottom, and more tranquil images at the top.[1]

The mural accompanied renovations to the Security Council by Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg, and was first publicly displayed on April 4, 1952.[2][3] It was commissioned by the Norwegian government as a gift from Norway to the United Nations.[4]

In 2013, Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, stated that Krohg's ambition "was to give the United Nations a chamber that could inspire those working in it to carry out the core of the United Nations mandate".[5]

Krohg's mural has been met with controversy. Some, such as the Los Angeles Times, called it "imaginative", while a correspondent for the BBC described it as "the world's worst mural, at which I have sat and gazed for many bewildering hours".[6]

  1. ^ "Untitled (Mural for Peace)". United Nations. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  2. ^ "The Security Council Chamber". United Nations Multimedia Organisation. 1966. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  3. ^ Sandvik, Maria Veie (2014). "Per Krohg's Painting in the United Nations Security Council". German Review on the United Nations. 60: 156–162.
  4. ^ Vaughan Lowe; Adam Roberts; Jennifer Welsh; Dominik Zaum, eds. (2008). The United Nations Security Council and war : the evolution of thought and practice since 1945. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0191538582. OCLC 263493446.
  5. ^ "Norway shines up its gift to the UN". www.newsinenglish.no. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  6. ^ Bosco, David L. (2009). Five to rule them all : the UN Security Council and the making of the modern world. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195328769. OCLC 313017982.