Death, destruction and deity: painting Guernica

Gus Van Hensbergen | The Art Newspaper | 5th April 2017

A long, but interesting, essay on the ongoing debate about Picasso’s masterpiece. “What I am sure invaded Picasso’s mental space was the much richer tradition, so celebrated in Spain, of sargas [large church tapestries]. They are traditionally hung up to celebrate feasts and special holy days …The claustrophobia and horror of Guernica is contained and made accessible because it is essentially a theatre set.”