The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid claims that Guernica, the iconic work by Pablo Picasso, will undergo conservation works soon, although its restoration has not been mentioned yet. Official message states that "Guernica will not be restored." As museum staff comments, because of the frequent transportation from one place to another, Guernica got thinner and needs conservation works.
World famous Guernica is one of the most prized art works by Pablo Picasso. Commissioned by the Spanish Republican government to represent the country at the Paris International Exposition (the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris), Guernica celebrates its 80th anniversary. Its remarkable size, 3.5 metre (11 ft) tall and 7.8 metre (23 ft) wide, as well as frequent exhibitions worsened its condition.
As the Reina Sofia museum notes, "it is so fragile that it can no longer be either folded or removed from the frame ."
As the Reina Sofia museum notes, "it is so fragile that it can no longer be either folded or removed from the frame ."
Guernica
1937, 349.3×776.6 cm
The painting is now on display at the Museo Reina Sofía as part of the exhibition Pity and Terror Picasso’s Path to Guernica. It comprises of 150 masterpieces of the artist loaned by more than 30 galleries from around the world. The exhibition commemorates not only the 80th anniversary of Guernica’s creation but also its transfer to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía 25 years ago.
Massacre in Korea
1951, 110×210 cm
Why Guernica by Pablo Picasso has become one of the most powerful artistic and political statements in history, read in the article by Arhive "Anniversary of "Guernica" by Picasso will be marked by a major exhibition in Madrid."
Three RAM's heads
1939, 65×89 cm
The initial study
, which should examine the painting’s condition and determine the scope of needed works, is in the very beginning and "depends on the technicians and experts on restoration." The problem of Guernica’s preservation has been discussed for over 20 years. In 1998, a group of professional restorers from all over the world examined the canvas and found many traces of its destruction, including several unalterable ones. Their resolution was: not to take the picture out of the museum until these problems were solved.
Three dancers
1925, 215.3×142.2 cm
As part of the exhibition Pity and Terror in Picasso — the Path to Guernica (April 5 — September 4, 2017), a selection of results are presented, and serve as a historical counterpoint, from the research project Fondo Documental Guernica (Guernica Documentary Collection), spanning the period from 1937 to 1949.
Left: Pablo Picasso, Head of Crying Woman with Handkerchief (III), Postscripto of 'Guernica', 1937. Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.
