"That Was Then, This is Now"

 

 

12 x 9"

oil on panel

sold

The two young men taking in Pablo Picasso's iconic Guernica presumably cannot begin to comprehend the event depicted on the massive canvas.

Guernica is a town in the North of Spain. The Nationalist forces considered it the hub for the Republican resistance which made it a target during the Spanish Civil War.  In April of 1937, under the direction of Adolf Hitler, planes bombed the town of Guernica meant to intimidate the resistance.  Fires spread from building to building, destroyed roads and bridges and effectively trapped the people from escape.

The Spanish government asked Picasso, who was living in Paris during the German occupation of World War II, to complete a mural expressing the historic and horrific event for the Paris Exhibition in the same year.  He had read a reporter's eyewitness account of the attack, published in The New York Times, abandoning his original idea and creating his final painting based on that very detailed description. It received little interest despite the published eyewitness accounts and the Paris Exhibition, until the painting did a tour around the world.  The international community took great notice and raised funds and awareness for the Spanish war relief.

 

This new painting will be included in the upcoming group show Looking Forward, opening July 2nd at the Robert Lange Studios.

 

Please click here for a larger view.