Author: Van Hensbergen, Gijs

Introduced at the 1937 Paris International Art Expo to mixed reaction, Guernica then toured Europe and America, raising funds for Spanish refugees and evoking widespread cultural, political, and aesthetic debate.

Picasso loaned the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for safekeeping, and it stayed there gaining in reputation for more than 40 years.

With its return to Spain after the death of Franco it became a symbol of reconciliation. Van Hensbergen, who lives in England and is known most recently for his biography Gaudi, explores the context of Picasso's creation and the nature of the painting's power.

Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR