The Spanish government has denied the Basque Nationalist Party’s (PNV) request for Pablo Picasso’s Guernica to be temporarily exhibited in Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum.
The painting depicts the 1937 bombing of the eponymous Basque town by Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces with the help of the German Luftwaffe (air force). It is often touted as one of the most striking anti-war works of art, and Picasso’s most famous political painting.
The 11.5 -by-15.5-feet wide oil painting is currently held in the Reina Sofía Museum in Spain’s capital, Madrid.
In anticipation of the 90th anniversary of the devastating bombing attack, however, – as well as the anniversary of the formation of the first Basque government in 1936 – the PNV has spent weeks petitioning the Spanish government to allow its temporary exhibition in the Basque region’s largest city.
It was hoped that the work could be displayed in the Guggenheim contemporary art museum between October 2026 and June 2027
PNV Senator Igotz López Torre had requested the temporary exhibition of the painting, petitioning the technicians of the Reina Sofía Museum to collaborate with those at the Gugghenheim to ensure the masterpiece is protected from possible damage.
In the Spanish Senate on Wednesday, April 7, Spanish Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun roundly rejected this request.
“Commemorating the ninetieth anniversary of the bombing of Gernika must also guarantee that this work can survive ninety more years. My obligation is to preserve this valuable heritage,” he said, arguing that the journey to Bilbao could jeopardise the painting.
PNV congresswoman Maribel Vaquero, highlighted in a post shared via X the next day that the painting has previously been displayed in various international cities from Copenhagen to São Paulo – before being made one of Madrid’s star attractions in 1992.
“Sánchez’s government often says that something can’t be done and then changes its mind. We call for political will in this,” she said.
This is not the first demand that the work be showcased in the Basque Country. Similar requests from the PNV in 1997 and 2011 were also denied. Basque Nationalists have used the phrase “Guernica Gernikara” (Guernica to Guernica) to call for the relocation of the work.
“It has been seized in Madrid for 40 years as spoils of war, even against the will of its maker,” says the Guernica Gernikara website.
Regardless, the Reina Sofía Museum has consistently denied such requests, including from New York City’s Museum of Modern Art in 2000, arguing that the painting is too frail to be moved.
Featured image: Gigapixel 3D Scan of Picasso’s “Guernica” / Reina Sofia, Spanish Embassy
Source: Ars Electronica via Flickr
Author: Robert Bauernhansl
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