Any Spanish major on any college campus in the world will eventually learn about “Guernica.”
It’s a massive cubist piece by Pablo Picasso and is considered a Spanish national treasure. It’s housed in the Reina Sofia, Madrid’s modern art museum.
Picasso painted it after the outbreak of the very violent and very deadly Spanish Civil War, which was followed by the fascist Franco dictatorship, according to museoreinasofia.es.
Picasso witnessed the bombing of a small Spanish pueblo called Guernica, and the piece was a response to the violence he saw there, as well as a comment on the war itself.
The painting is a compilation of different scenes from that bombing and is loaded with symbolism and imagery pertinent to both Spain and Spaniards.
In Madrid, we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by museums and cultural centers that house some of the most important works of art within the last two centuries.
And I say that with as little pretentiousness as possible — I really mean that Madrid has some ?incredible art.
The Museo Nacional del Prado is home to Velazquez’s “Las Meninas” and Goya’s dark period. It houses the art collection of the royal family and what some speculate to be a draft of the Mona Lisa, though the rumors around that particular piece are almost too mythological ?to believe.
But I found the most profound experience I’ve had here was when we went to see “Guernica.”
Every Wednesday through Saturday, The Reina Sofia has a free period of two hours from 7 to 9 p.m., so myself and a few others decided to be very madrileño and go see the painting. I had already seen it before, but this time around I was more excited and a little more anxious.
Those that I was with had also spent a great deal of time in the United States studying “Guernica” and its cultural and artistic influence, so there was an equal amount of nervousness and excitement as we tried to navigate the museum.
As one put it, seeing this particular painting was more exciting for her than seeing the Eiffel Tower, or going to a concert. There was something about the process of studying the piece from afar, of learning about its ?historical and cultural significance and impact, that made seeing art a more meaningful experience.
So we found it.
It was massive and choppy, gray and violent. At the top of the painting an exploding light bulb illuminates a screaming horse, some confused ghost stares blankly out an open windowand the severed hand of a soldier holds a daisy.
Every single person I was with was silent. That’s when I really began to understand the amazing way art has of moving people.
ewenning@indiana.edu
