In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Franco invited the Nazi Condor Legion to drop bombs over a small town, Gernika, that was a symbol of Basque independence. In Picasso’s jarring iconic oil-on-canvas painting of the aftermath, civilians scream in anguish; scattered limbs are strewn throughout. Violence and pain scream from the canvas.
While art critics scrambled to unravel the meaning of each figure represented in the piece, it could be argued that was beside the point. As Picasso wanted, this painting went beyond standard art-analysis dialogue of aesthetic, technique and style. Though it was rendered in the Cubist style, as Shafri said, “It’s beyond Cubism.” Picasso called Guernica the “property of the people”.
The artist, who painted the work in the immediate aftermath of the event to capitalise on news reports, sought to use the painting to influence changes in national policy, to galvanise world opinion, and to push viewers into being proactive participants in the outrage. Picasso toured Guernica in the UK and US, as a fundraising effort for Spanish Relief for Guernica in 1938. While still in exile in France, Picasso even used the painting as a bargaining chip for democracy. In later years, Franco’s followers wanted the painting in Spain (perhaps owing to its celebrity), but Picasso decreed he would only allow it to hang in the country once democracy had been established.
The art of war
This idea of how well-timed art can shape the social narrative of war was explored by Nicole Dean, a US Army officer specialising in looted art. In a 2020 article, Dean proposed that Guernica could be used as a tool for leadership development: “This calculated creation of a powerful masterpiece should be examined and appreciated as part of a greater wartime narrative.”
She even suggested that art could be used as a guide to the art of war. “The study of wartime art can be a valuable addition to the professional development of military leaders, generating options for professional dialogue about how societies see the victors, the vanquished, and the value of conflicts through the lens of artists and cultural patrimony.”
Before him, Picasso’s fellow Spanish master artist, Francisco Goya, was a graphic eyewitness to the atrocities of his day – and his painting The Third of May 1808 (part of a diptyque with the Second of May, held by the Museo Prado in Madrid) continues to shock almost two centuries after his death, as a ground-breaking masterpiece of art – and a political tool.