Picasso's 'Guernica', a vast grey-and-black canvas of screaming figures, was his response to the 1937 bombing of a Basque town, and a tapestry copy now hangs at the entrance to the UN Security Council.

Art history (Picasso's Guernica)

ArtHistory

Why it matters

The idea in context

He refused to let the original return to Spain while the country was under dictatorship. The painting has since become a near-universal shorthand for the horror of war — so charged that the UN tapestry was once covered before a press conference about military action, as if the image itself might contradict the words spoken in front of it.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Picasso'nun 'Guernica'sı — çığlık atan figürlerle dolu devasa, gri-siyah bir tuval — 1937'de bir Bask kasabasının bombalanmasına verdiği yanıttı; bir goblen kopyası bugün BM Güvenlik Konseyi'nin girişinde asılı.

Ülke diktatörlük altındayken orijinalin İspanya'ya dönmesine izin vermedi. Tablo o günden beri savaşın dehşetinin neredeyse evrensel bir simgesi hâline geldi — o kadar yüklü ki BM goblen, askeri harekâtla ilgili bir basın toplantısından önce bir kez örtülmüştü; sanki imge, önünde söylenen sözlerle çelişebilirmiş gibi.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

Picasso's 'Guernica' (1937), response to the bombing of Guernica; a tapestry copy hangs at the UN; it was covered in 2003 before a press briefing.

Background reading: Guernica (Picasso)Attribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
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