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.