Guernica, Reina Sofía National Art Museum, Madrid at Spain is culture.

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Outstanding works / Modernism and avant-garde movements / Reina Sofía National Art Museum

Guernica

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Pablo Ruiz Picasso. ‘Guernica’. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Madrid © De las reproducciones autorizadas, VEGAP, 2011

Category

Painting

Date

20th century (1937)

Artist

Pablo Ruiz Picasso

Cultural background

Avant-garde

Original title

Guernica

Reina Sofía National Art Museum
Madrid
Madrid

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This vast canvas by Picasso is an indictment of war, and has become a universal emblem.

'Guernica' is the faithful reflection of a dramatic period and set of circumstances, and was created for the Spanish Pavilion in the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris. Picasso painted this work in reaction to the news of the German bombing of the Basque town which gives its name to the work, captured in the heart-rending photographs published by the French newspaper 'L'Humanité'.

However, neither the sketches nor the painting itself allude to specific events, but rather comprise a generic condemnation of the barbarity and terror of war. Conceived as a giant poster, it is testament to the horror of the Spanish Civil War, as well as a foreboding of what was soon to take place in World War II. The sobriety of the colours, the intensity of each and every one of the motifs and their articulation together all combine to endow the scene with an atmosphere of heightened tragedy.