The claim
A painting by Swedish artist Lena Cronqvist is set to hang in the European Parliament, showing children with knives cutting off the legs of small figures. A widely shared post from a right-wing extremist website speaks of “pedophile cannibal images.”
Our conclusion
Another picture by Lena Cronqvist was part of a temporary exhibition in the Paul Henri Spaak building on the occasion of the Swedish EU Council Presidency. The work shown, “Crooked Faces,” shows children making faces, not mutilations. Cronqvist's pictures and sculptures often depict the oppression of women and children, which the extreme right often misinterprets and misuses for their own propaganda.
A controversial work of art is currently causing a stir on social media. It is a painting by Swedish artist Lena Cronqvist that shows children with knives cutting off the legs of small figures. The work was described as “paedophilic cannibal images” and was reportedly on display at the European Parliament in Brussels. However, this claim is not true.
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Cronqvist picture in temporary exhibition
At the request of the German Press Agency ( dpa ), the European Parliament confirmed that only one painting by Lena Cronqvist was temporarily hung in a parliamentary building on loan. The work entitled “Crooked Faces” shows three children making faces against a blue and white background. However, it is not in the permanent collection of Parliament, nor is any other picture by Cronqvist. It was only exhibited during a temporary exhibition to mark the Swedish EU Presidency in the Paul Henri Spaak building in Brussels. The wall with the exhibition can be seen briefly in this Catalan news report (from 0:36).
A widely circulated photo of the painting clearly shows the words “Temporary Art Exhibition” with the logo of the European Parliament. This note is missing from the other photos shared on social media. The picture called “Operation II”, in which girls cut off the legs of dolls, was not on display in the European Parliament as claimed. This also applies to the Swedish artist's other controversial works.
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“Pedophilic cannibal images”: Lena Cronqvist and her critics
Lena Birgitta Cronqvist Tunström is an important contemporary expressionist and sculptor from Scandinavia. Her works often feature girls playing morbid games and addressing power relationships. Fear and suffering are recurring themes in her work. Cronqvist is known for her bold and provocative portrayals of taboos and often criticizes the oppression of women and children in society. In her works she also processes her own traumatizing experiences, for example her stay in a psychiatric clinic because of postpartum psychosis:
It was uncomfortable. At first I felt very strong, and then I was locked up in an institution to be treated with electric shocks and lots of medication. It was a difficult time, but the way out was to paint these experiences. I had to paint her.
From an interview as part of an exhibition at the Munch Museum in Oslo, 2017
Cronqvist's works are often misinterpreted by the extreme right. At the end of January, Aurélia Beigneux from the “Identity and Democracy” group put a question to the European Parliament. She describes Cronqvist's works as "more than questionable in taste" and herself as an "artist with openly sick inspiration":
> Lena Cronqvist >Nudity accompanied by children, disemboweled infants or infants immersed in glasses form the false art world of Lena Cronqvist, who does not shy away from presenting herself in images that are more than morbid. This artist's perverted obsessions are not only morally reprehensible, they should never have been displayed on the walls of the European Parliament, especially at a time when child abuse and pedocrimony continue to be a major problem for European Union citizens.
From request E-000281/2023
Conclusion: The alleged “pedophile cannibal image” called “Operation II” never hung in the European Parliament. But another picture by Lena Cronqvist was part of a temporary exhibition: The work shown, “Crooked Faces,” shows children making faces, not mutilations of dolls. The Swedish artist is often misinterpreted by the extreme right, even though her artworks are directed against violence and oppression of women and children.
Sources: European Parliament , dpa , Aftenposten , Galerie Forsblom , ccma.cat , Twitter
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