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Anniversary of "Guernica" by Picasso will be marked by a major exhibition in Madrid

The Museo Reina Sofía (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía) in Madrid announced a major-scale exhibition presenting art works by Pablo Picasso. It is timed to the 80-years date since the famous painting Guernica -- the universal symbol of the cruelty of war -- was shown for the first time, and to the 25-year anniversary since the mural was transferred to the museum. The exhibition Pity and Terror in Picasso. The Path to Guernica comprises some 150 masterpieces by the artist taken from the museum’s own collection as well as loaned by more than 30 galleries around the world.
Anniversary of "Guernica" by Picasso will be marked by a major exhibition in Madrid
Guernica is one of the most famous art works by Pablo Picasso.
Commissioned by the Spanish Republican government, it was created to be a part of the Spanish Pavilion
at the International Exposition in Paris in 1937.
Pablo Picasso. Guernica
Guernica
1937, 349.3×776.6 cm
In 1937, Spain has been mired in a bloody civil war: Republicans fought with the forces of General Francisco Franco, the forthcoming dictator. The painting Guernica was inspired by the events in Guernica, a town in the province of Biscay in Basque Country, northern Spain. On Monday, 26 April 1937 there was a busy market day in the town, and the warplanes of the German Condor Legion, Franco’s allies in the war, bombed it for about two hours. Aerial bombing and subsequent fire killed several hundred people, mostly civilians.
The tragedy set a precedent for a new type of strategy used during the Second World War -- the aerial bombing of civilians.
At the time when Pablo Picasso has learnt about the air bombing on Guernica, he had been working on 

At the time when Pablo Picasso has learnt about the air bombing on Guernica, he had been working on a mural for the International Expo. He abandoned his original idea and changed the conception.

In a month, the artist created a mural that has become one of the most powerful artistic and political statements in history. Not by chance did he choose the black and white (or rather, even the black and gray) palette for it. According to Picasso, the world, swept by the war, is devoid of colors, the life itself has gone out of it.

Left: Ruins of Guernica (1937). Photo: Wikipedia

In 1981, the mural was transferred to Madrid from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, where it was safely kept at Picasso’s request until democracy had been re-established in Spain. First it was displayed behind a bomb-and-bullet-proof glass screens under armed guard at the Museo del Prado because the fears of the attacks on the masterpiece were too high. In 1992, the Museo Reina Sofía has opened its doors, and Guernica was moved to its purpose-built gallery.
Pablo Picasso. Massacre in Korea
Massacre in Korea
1951, 110×210 cm
The exhibition Pity and Terror in Picasso will include major loans from the Musée Picasso in Paris, Tate Modern, Centre George Pompidou, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum and other institutions. It will begin with the still lifes and interiors of 1924−25. Then it will trace Picasso’s treatment of monstrosity and violence in the later 1920s and 1930s. Next period will be marked by the story beyond Guernica and also by the doom-laden portraits and interiors done as World War II began. The last room will be dedicated to Picasso’s attempts in the 1950s to return to ‘history painting' in works like Massacre in Korea and the UNESCO mural, The Fall of Icarus.
The Fall of Icarus, Picasso mural at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.
Photo: youngturkinparis.files.wordp
The Fall of Icarus, Picasso mural at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.
Photo: youngturkinparis.files.wordpress.com
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The exhibition Pity and Terror in Picasso. The Path to Guernica will lasts for the whole five months. It starts on April 5, 2017 and ends on September 4, 2017.
Written by Vlad Maslow on materials of the Museo Reina Sofía's official cite. Main illustration: tes.com