THE EIFFEL TOWER

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most important monuments of Paris. In fact, it is more than a monument, it's something else, a symbol of the city itself.

It was building by Gustave Eiffel in 1889. Monsieur Eifeel was an engineer who build brigdes made of steel throughout France and other european countries during the second half of the ninettenth century.

Here you can see a photograph of Gustave Eiffel. The picture was taken by Nadar a ver famous photographer in France.

Below you can see one of the Eiffel's brigdes. This one is in Biarritz.

1889 was, indeed, a special year because it was the conmemoration of the triumph of the French Revolution. Therefore, this aniversary clashed with the International Exhibition. This event started in London in 1851 and since then took place every five years or so in a different city each time.

This is a postcard of the International Exhibition in Paris.

For the French exhibition, their personel staff considered that it was a great idea to built a very special monument. Although Eiffel wasn't the first choice for the project, he worked hard since the begining to get the job. Though there were some rumours that he was very good contacts in the goverment that should helped him to get the job as well.

Gustave Eiffel designed an enormous tower made of iron. In the picture below you can see the structure's tower with all the detalis.

The most amazing thing about the tower was it's structure that it looked like as a framework instead of a building. It seemed that the monument was unfinished. And that what made most of the people rejected this "new monument".

Despite of the opinion of the Eiffel's contemporaries, most of them hated the tower since the begining, the Eiffel Tower soon became the most important tourist attraction during the celebration of the international exhibition. Everybody who came to Paris those days, wanted to visit the tower and checked out if it was so ugly than everyone said.

Moreover, when the international event was finished, the Eiffel Tower remained to stay. During the First War World it was used as a radio broadcasting.

Nowadays it is not only a monument that people from all over the world should visit every year. It is also a symbol of freedom and hope. And the image of a city that everyone can reconogize all over the world.

The Eiffel's masterpiece has also inspired to several artists who have painted it in differents ways. Here are some examples:

The Eiffel Tower by George Seurat 1889.

The Eiffel Tower by Henri Rousseau 1898

The Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay 1911

For further information you can watch these links:

La verdadera historia de la Torre Eiffel

The truth story of Eiffel's Tower

How do they do it? The Eiffel Tower

Credits. The images are taken from wikimedia.

THE GUERNICA

The Guernica was painted by Pablo Picasso between May and June of 1937. 

At the begining of the Spanish Civil War, there was a tremendous incident in a small village of the north of Spain. In April 26th 1937 the inhabitans of Guernica suffered a terrible attack. A group of airplanes from german and italian army attacked the village. All the buildings were destroyed and a lot of people were killed or injured.

Guernica's buildings after the attack

The incident was noticed in all the newspapers throught the world. Even Pablo Picasso read about it at The L'Humanite where the Guernica's situation appeared in that publication in April 28th. At that time, Picasso was working in a picture for an international exhibition of art in Paris. However, the spanish artist didn't know what to do for that exhibition. Only after read the incidents in Guernica, Picasso realised that it was a great topic for a painting.

What can you see in the Guernica? Well if you pay attention you can see six human beings and three animals.

On the left side of the painting, there is a mother holding the death body of her child. The woman seems to be screaming and her image is quite dramatic. Next to the woman there is a bull which is one of the favourite topics that Picasso ussually draw in his art works. Bellow the mother you can see a young man. This is called the death soldier.

In the photograph above there is a detail which show you the hand of the death soldier. His hand is holding a break sword. You can also see a flower which is a symbol of hope.

In the right side of the picture there is a man whose arms are up in the air. He is probably asking for mercy. 

Next to this man there is a woman holding a lamp. There is also another woman who is kneel down with a bad injure on her arm and her leg broken. Finally, in the middle of the picture you can see a horse that is a metaphor of the victims of the war.

The Guernica was exhibited in the International Exhibition of Art in Paris with a great success. In despite of the great drama, Pablo Picasso didn't do a direct conection to Guernica or the Spanish Civil War. Thereby, the Picasso's masterpiece has been related with all the tragedies and wars that humanity has suffered along the twenty century. Furthermore, this picture is a symbol of hope. You can see that in the brigth light that show up from the inside to the outside of the painting.

When the Spanish Civil War ended and a new goberment began in Spain, the Guernica couldn't return to Spain. Moreover, the artist himself said that his painting didn't return until there was a change in the political situation.

The Guernica finally arrived at Spain at the begining of the eighties. The Casón del Buen Retiro was the first place where the Guernica was exhibited in our country. 

The Reina Sofia Museum front door

Then in 1992 the Picasso's masterpiece was trasladated to the Reina Sofia Museum. This is the place where everyone can visit the painting.

This year it's the eightieth anniversay of the Guernica. For that reason there is a special exhibition at the Reina Sofía Museum.

You can read all the details in this link Piedad y terror en Picasso, el camino a Guernica.

Also, if you are interested, here is a video about the Guernica.

This other video is about a song that a spanish group, Vetusta Morla, sing inside the Guernica's room to celebrate it's aniversary.

The Vetusta Morla's song is a part of project called "Suena Guernica". This project has been promoted by Radio3 with the participation of a differents spanish singers. Here are other videos from the project.

For further information about Guernica try this links:

A truth story of Guernica, spanish documentary

Guernica the story, english version

Credits images from Wikipedia.