Guernica


When in Madrid, I took the opportunity to go see Guernica, Pablo Picasso's famous painting, at the Reina Sofia Museum. I had learned something about it in high school, but couldn't really remember much of it. By an amusing coincidence I had the chance to encounter a group of French people, whose guide explained to them the significance behind the painting. Two days ago we also discussed Guernica's historical background in one of my courses, without concentrating too much on the painting itself. The reason for it was that Guernica could be interpreted in an infinite number of ways; even Picasso refused to explain it, saying that, when starting a new work, the painter himself does not know all the symbols he'll have reached by the end.

Guernica was inspired by the bombings led by the Nazis against the Basque town called Guernica, in April, 1937, during the Spanish civil war. Appalled by the suffering of the Spanish people, Picasso chose to depict the horrors of the civil war, whose main cause was Franco's desire to take over the Republic, in his consecrated cubist manner. The painting was then part of the 1937 Paris International Exposition, where it didn't receive much recognition, not even by the U.S.S.R., country that was on the Republicans' side.

As for the interpretation... the one version I heard and was impressed by would be that the enraged horse in the middle would represent Franco. Its iron-like tongue would indicate the suffering Franco has inflicted on Spain, which would be the bull that's looking away from the horse, with an expression of fear on its face. Although the bull's body is painted in a darker nuance, its head is very visible, implying the strength of the Spanish people, despite all their suffering. Beneath the bull there is a screaming woman holding a dead son; her breasts are hanging, without any milk left, which could symbolize Spain's lack of prosperity and despair for the many sons it loses in this absurd war. The whole painting contains scattered members and frightened, crying faces - the general state of the people's souls and lives. Another intriguing element would be the light bulb in the middle, above the horse, that could be interpreted as a light bulb that's on, one that's off, an eye that watches everything... and so much more. After all, IT IS Picasso! There is also a hand holding a candle, which might represent Spain's hope that peace will eventually settle over its tumultuous past and present. As I said, there are so many possible interpretations that we will never be able to completely understand all the Guernica's implications. But that's the point of a brilliant painting, isn't it?

Although Guernica traveled all over the world, Picasso always wanted to see it back to its people. Franco has tried to bring it back to Spain, in an useless effort to show the world that he is not the tyrant he's believed to be. Nevertheless, Guernica returned to Spain only in 1981. Even nowadays, it is still used as a means for political tensions between the central government and the Basque one; no later than last spring, the latter asked Madrid to let them expose the painting in the Guggenheim Museum, in Bilbao, for the 30th commemoration of the Guernica massacre. Approval was not granted on basis of the painting's fragility and impossibility of transportation.

The only thing I would like to add is that I'm extremely sad that a country with such rich history and so much suffering (some caused by the Spanish people itself, it's true) as Spain could be reduced by Romanians to a "strawberry picking country". There is so much more there that we will not be able to discover, not as long as we will insist on degrading this country's spiritual richness and cultural contribution to the world.