Guernica

Pablo Picasso, 1937

Oil on canvas

349 × 776 cm, 137.4 × 305.5 in

Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid

Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, depicting the Nazi German bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty-four bombers, on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, in which a number of people variously estimated between 250 and 1,600 were killed and many more were injured.

...adapted in April 26th, 1937, in order to portray the horror of the bombing, thus satisfying both Picasso's own desires to protest against Franco's actions and the political and ideological beliefs of the artistical élite of the time.

Picasso said as he worked on the mural:

...invokes the immediacy of a newspaper photograph.

Hidden images in Guernica. This de-contrasting of the lower portion of the horse makes it easier to discern the hidden skull in profile in the painting. The bull's head is formed mostly by the bent front leg. The head's nose is formed by the leg's knee cap.

Guernica depicts suffering people, animals, and buildings wrenched by violence and chaos.

Symbolism in Guernica???

When pressed to explain them in Guernica, Picasso said, "...this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse...

In "The Dream and Lie of Franco," a series of narrative sketches also created for the World's Fair, Franco is depicted as a monster that first devours his own horse and later does battle with an angry bull.

1937 Paris International Exhibition

Guernica was initially exhibited in July 1937 at the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition^[accompanied by the slogan:

We are fighting for the essential unity of Spain.

We are fighting for the integrity of Spanish soil.

We are fighting for the independence of our country and for

the right of the Spanish people to determine their own destiny.

The display of Guernica was accompanied by a poem by Paul Éluard, and the pavilion displayed works by Joan Miró and Alexander Calder

During the 1970s, it was a symbol for Spaniards of both the end of the Franco regime and of Basque nationalism. The Basque left has repeatedly used imagery from the picture.

A tiled wall in Gernika claims "Guernica" Gernikara, "The Guernica (painting) to Gernika."

In 1992 the painting was moved from the Museo del Prado to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, both in Madrid, along with about two dozen preparatory works. This action was controversial in Spain, since Picasso's will stated that the painting should be displayed at the Prado.

...When first displayed in Spain, the painting was placed at El Casón del Buen Retiro, an annex to the Prado that housed early nineteenth century paintings but had a large enough wall. It was kept behind bullet-proof glass and guarded with machine guns.

Basque nationalists have advocated that the picture should be brought to the Basque country,even the staff of the Guggenheim do not see a permanent transfer of the painting as possible.

...A tapestry copy of Picasso's Guernica is displayed on the wall of the United Nations building in New York City, at the entrance to the Security Council room. It was placed there as a reminder of the horrors of war.  On February 5, 2003 a large blue curtain was placed to cover this work, so that it would not be visible in the background when Colin Powell and John Negroponte gave press conferences at the United Nations. On the following day, it was claimed that the curtain was placed there at the request of television news crews, who had complained that the wild lines and screaming figures made for a bad backdrop, and that a horse's hindquarters appeared just above the faces of any speakers. Diplomats, however, told journalists that the Bush Administration pressured UN officials to cover the tapestry, rather than have it in the background while Powell or other U.S. diplomats argued for war on Iraq..........................................!