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Iconic Tapestry of Picasso's 'Guernica' Is Back at the UN

In this Jan. 2, 2018, file photo, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley walks past a tapestry woven by Atelier J. de la Baume-Durrbach of Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" as she arrives to speak to reporters at United Nations headquarters. (AP)
In this Jan. 2, 2018, file photo, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley walks past a tapestry woven by Atelier J. de la Baume-Durrbach of Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" as she arrives to speak to reporters at United Nations headquarters. (AP)
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Iconic Tapestry of Picasso's 'Guernica' Is Back at the UN

In this Jan. 2, 2018, file photo, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley walks past a tapestry woven by Atelier J. de la Baume-Durrbach of Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" as she arrives to speak to reporters at United Nations headquarters. (AP)
In this Jan. 2, 2018, file photo, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley walks past a tapestry woven by Atelier J. de la Baume-Durrbach of Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" as she arrives to speak to reporters at United Nations headquarters. (AP)

The iconic tapestry of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica,” which is considered by numerous art critics as perhaps the most powerful anti-war painting in history, returned to its place of honor at the United Nations on Saturday after a year-long absence that angered and dismayed many UN diplomats and staff.

The tapestry of the painting, woven by Atelier J. de la Baume-Durrbach, was re-hung Saturday outside the Security Council, the UN’s most powerful body charged with ensuring international peace and security. Since February 2021, the yellow wall where it had hung had been empty.

The tapestry was commissioned in 1955 by former US vice president and New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and offered to the UN on loan in 1984.

The Rockefeller family donated the land to build the UN complex after the world body was founded on the ashes of World War II, in the words of the UN Charter, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

When the United Nations headquarters was undergoing a major renovation starting in 2009, the tapestry was returned to the Rockefeller Foundation for safekeeping. It was reinstalled in September 2013 when the renovations were completed.

Early last year, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Jr., the son of the late vice president and governor who owns the “Guernica” tapestry, notified the United Nations of his intention to retrieve it. The UN returned it to him in February 2021.

Rockefeller said in a statement Saturday that the tapestry was being returned on loan to the United Nations, and he intends to donate the work to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the future.

“The Guernica tapestry with its probing symbolism -- its depiction of horrific aspects of human nature -- wrestles with the cruelty, darkness, and also a seed of hope within humanity.” Rockefeller said in a statement. “The Guernica tapestry is meant to be experienced and interpreted, with Picasso refusing to share its message when asked.”

Rockefeller said he was “delighted and deeply grateful, along with my family for the careful stewardship” of the tapestry by the United Nations and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“I am grateful that the tapestry will be able to continue to reach a broader segment of the world’s population and magnify its ability to touch lives and educate,” he said.

In a Dec. 1, 2021 letter to Rockefeller, the UN said Guterres wrote: “This is most welcome news as we end a difficult year of global hardship and strife.”

“The Guernica tapestry speaks to the world about the urgent need to advance international peace and security,” the UN chief wrote. “We are honored to serve as careful stewards of this one-of-a-kind iconic work – as we draw inspiration from its message.”

The original painting, Picasso’s protest of the bombing of the Basque capital of Guernica during the Spanish civil war, is in Spain.

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Food Grown with Fewer Chemicals? A Brazilian Scientist Wins $500,000 for Showing the Way 

This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
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Food Grown with Fewer Chemicals? A Brazilian Scientist Wins $500,000 for Showing the Way 

This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)
This undated image provided by the World Food Prize, shows Dr. Mariangela Hungria. (Antonio Neto/World Food Prize via AP)

A Brazilian scientist who pushed back against chemical fertilizers and researched biologically based approaches to more robust food production has been honored with this year’s World Food Prize, the organization announced Tuesday.

Microbiologist Mariangela Hungria's research helped her country become an agricultural powerhouse, an accomplishment that has now won her $500,000 from the Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation. Hungria has been researching biological seed and soil treatments for 40 years and has worked with Brazilian farmers to implement her findings.

"I still cannot believe it. Everybody said, my whole life, it's improbable, you are going the wrong way, just go to things like chemicals and so on. And then, I received the most important prize in the world of agriculture," Hungria said in an interview. "Sometimes I still think I'll wake up and see that it's not true."

Norman Borlaug, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work to dramatically increase crop yields and reduce the threat of starvation in many countries, founded the World Food Prize. Since the first prize was handed out in 1987, 55 people have been honored.

Hungria said she grew up wanting to alleviate hunger. Early in her career, she decided to focus on a process called biological nitrogen fixation, in which soil bacteria could be used to promote plant growth. At that time, farmers in Brazil and around the world were reluctant to reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizers, which dramatically increase crop production but lead to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes waterways.

Hungria studied how bacteria can interact with plant roots to naturally produce nitrogen. She then demonstrated her work on test plots and began working directly with farmers to convince them that they wouldn't have to sacrifice high crop yields if they switched to a biological process.

The work is credited for increasing yields of several crops, including wheat, corn and beans, but it has been especially affective on soybeans. Brazil has since become the world's largest soybean producer, surpassing the United States and Argentina.

Although Hungria's research could be applied on farms in other countries, soybean production in the US is different than it is in Brazil; American farmers typically rotate crops on their land between growing corn and soybeans. Enough nitrate fertilizer applied to corn still remains in the soil when soybeans are planted that little or no fertilizer needs to be applied, Hungria said.

Brazilian agricultural companies have faced fierce criticism for clearing forested land to create farmland, largely to grow soybeans.

Much of that criticism is justified, Hungria said, but she added that her biological approach builds up the soil and makes further encroachment into forested areas less necessary.

"If you manage the crop well, the crop will enrich the soil with nitrogen. Soil health improves if you do the right things," she said.

Hungria will be awarded her prize at an annual October gathering in Des Moines, Iowa, of agricultural researchers and officials from around the world.

Gebisa Ejeta, chair of the World Food Prize Laureate Selection Committee, credited Hungria for her "extraordinary scientific achievements" that have transformed agriculture in South America.

"Her brilliant scientific work and her committed vision for advancing sustainable crop production to feed humanity with judicious use of chemical fertilizer inputs and biological amendments has gained her global recognition both at home and abroad," Ejeta said in a statement.