Peinture criminelle 4–56, Armando, 1956

paint, h 122cm × w 91.8cm More details
© Armando

A decade after the Second World War, Armando embarked on a series of paintings about the criminal nature of war, with a gritty surface resembling clotted blood and grimly grinning heads. His view of man offered little hope and he was accused of ‘nihilism.’ This was a serious charge in the Cold War era because it would undermine the morality of the free West, playing into the hands of Communism.