Between 1914 and 1948, the French artist Georges Rouault produced a monumental series of prints entitled, Miserere (“Have Mercy”) in response to the horrors of World War I. Combining Christian iconography with frank depictions of wartime cruelty, the darkly expressionistic works were Rouault’s attempt to grapple with the reality of the senseless loss and destruction wrought by war and those who wield power.

War and Passion: Selections from Georges Rouault’s Miserere in Context places Miserere into conversation with pieces from the University’s collection and sculptures by John McCuistion. Together these modern and contemporary works provide an invitation to reflect on the timelessness of Rouault’s project and the inhumanity of interminable war.