Guernica is a large oil painting completed by Pablo Picasso in 1937 in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War. Painted in a stark palette of black, white and grey and filled with fragmented, anguished figures, it was first shown at the Spanish Pavilion of the 1937 Paris International Exposition and remains one of the best known anti-war images in Western art. The work is under copyright and is described here rather than reproduced.
Facts
Year Created LocationMuseo Reina Sofia, Madrid 1 Commissioned BySpanish Republican government, for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition 1 Connections
Created By
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
In Form
In Movement
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Sources
1. Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage Learning- chapter on Cubism and its aftermath, section on Picasso, Guernica
Genre reference
Guernica is a large oil painting completed by Pablo Picasso in 1937 in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Picasso paint Guernica?
As a response to the 1937 bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
Pablo Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned the large canvas for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition.
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