Guernica, painted by Pablo
Picasso, was created to be the mural centerpiece of the Spanish Pavilion
of the 1937 World's Fair in Spain. The piece is a striking protest
of a fascist coup led by Francisco Franco, the driving force behind
a massive Civil War between Franco and Spain's Republican forces.
On a dark day in April, 1937, on behalf of Franco against the Spanish
population, Nazi armed forces chose a small Basque town in northern
Spain for massive bomb tests for over three hours. It is estimated
that over 1,600 people are killed in Guernica and the town burns for
three days. As photographs and news of the bombing of Guernica reach
his home in Paris, Picasso finds immediate inspiration for his mural.
Picasso delivered Guernica just three months later on a large canvas.
Key elements include a woman holding her dead child, a large eye of
God, a bull and a wounded horse. Clearly, it depicts struggle and
the horrors of war and fighting.
After a long stay at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Guernica
now is permanently resided at the Reina Sofía, Spain's national museum
of modern art.
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