Created by Pablo Picasso to be part of the Spanish Pavilion at the International Exposition in Paris in 1937, Guernica is without a doubt one of the great paintings of the modern world.

Considered by some as the single-most important artwork of the 20th century, Guernica is an accurate depiction of the Spanish Civil War.

Pablo Picasso’s motivation for painting the scene in this great work (click on photo to enlarge) was the news of the German aerial bombing of the Basque town Gernika whose name the piece bears.

The extraordinary canvas is conceived as a giant poster whose muted colours and the articulation and intensity of each motif convey the heart-rendering tragedy of the scene. Guernica stands as an eloquent symbol of the world’s outrage at the horrors wrought upon the innocent by modern warfare.

Guernica is currently exhibited at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Website: www.museoreinasofia.es

Address: Calle Santa Isabel 52, Madrid, 28012, Spain.

Phone number: (+34) 91 774 1000

Focal Journey (by Gustavo Espinola)