Product Description

A heartfelt and excitingly original look at Picasso's great painting, GUERNICA - the tragedy by which it was inspired, the story of its creation and the emergence of its role as both a symbol of the Spanish Civil War and a universally recognised image of the horror of war. On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain was bombed by Hitler's Luftwaffe on behalf of Francisco Franco as he waged a bloody civil war. Twenty-four hours later, the village lay in ruins, its population decimated. This act of terror - the first large-scale attack against civilians in modern warfare - outraged the world, and one man in particular. Pablo Picasso, an expatriate living in Paris, responded to the devastation in his homeland by beginning work on GUERNICA, a painting many consider the greatest artwork of the twentieth century. Weaving themes of politics, art, war and morality, and featuring some of the twentieth century's most memorable and infamous figures, Russell Martin follows this renowned masterpiece across decades and continents. From Europe to America and, finally, back to Spain, PICASSO'S WAR sheds light on the conflict that was an ominous prelude to World War II and delivers an unforgettable portrait of a genius whose visionary statement about the horror and terrible wounds of war still resonates today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #964482 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Review
'With GUERNICA, Picasso writes our letter of doom: all that we love is going to be lost, and that is why it is necessary that we gather up all that we love, like the emotions of great farewells, in something of unforgettable beauty' Michel Leiris, French poet, after seeing the painting first displayed in June 1937

Picasso's greatest work, Guernica, is acclaimed as the ultimate artistic comment on war. Even now, decades after its creation, it is impossible to look at the painting without a deep sense of shock. That was exactly what Picasso hoped when in a frenzy of creativity he began work on his enormous masterpiece. In this lucid and moving book, bestselling writer Russell Martin (author of Beethoven's Hair) tells how the work came into being, what influence it has had since its creation in 1937, and how it changed the personality of the artist. Picasso was living in Paris during the Spanish Civil War but his sympathies were with the leftists. But politics aside, he was as sickened as most decent people when Hitler sent in his Luftwaffe, at the request of General Franco, to attack the Basque town of Guernica. It was the first large-scale military attack against civilians in modern times - and an ominous precursor to what would happen to London and other British cities. On April 26 1937 Hitler's bombers destroyed Guernica in just over three hours, killing many thousands of civilians. Outraged, Picasso immediately began work on what was to become one of the most influential paintings of the 20th century. Picasso himself wrote: 'An artist is a political being, constantly aware of the heartbreaking things that happen in the world. Painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war.' In this case, Guernica remains an icon of all that is most repugnant about man's inhumanity. Martin writes with a passion of his own, describing in a dramatic way his reaction on seeing the painting for the first time on what was to prove another infamous date - September 11 2001. His book is not just about art or politics, nor even history and conscience. It is a mix of each of those things and is almost as salutary as its subject. (Kirkus UK)

Imaginative cultural historian Martin (Beethoven's Hair, 2000, etc.) crafts a well-integrated and fascinating account of Picasso's famous painting and the horrible events that inspired it. The author's signature approach to seemingly offbeat subjects is careful research filtered through a novelistic sensibility to grasp the inherent story, which he unfolds in the engaging, almost offhand manner of a fictional amateur sleuth. Martin is, first and foremost, a consummate storyteller who deftly weaves such multiple disciplines as politics, history, art, science, and even current events into a narrative forming a coherent whole. A case in point is his handling here of the motivation behind Picasso's change of heart regarding his previous, adamantly apolitical stance on the Spanish Civil War, then only a few months old. Commissioned by a Republican delegation to devise a prominent work for the courtyard of the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, Picasso, who disdained "poster" (i.e., political) art, originally contemplated a mural whose subject would be the artist in his studio. But the brutal attack on the civilian population of the Basque town Gernika, intended by Franco and his Nazi allies to inspire terror and capitulation, had an energizing effect on the artist. Within two weeks of Gernika's bombardment and strafing by Goering's Luftwaffe, Picasso was hard at work on the monumental canvas that was to become the most political artwork of the 20th century. Martin goes beyond the obvious, however, in providing additional, less well-known motives for Picasso's sudden engagement. Having agreed to become the titular director of the Museo del Prado in September of the previous year, the artist was outraged by Franco's barbaric disregard for the safety of the nation's treasures and quietly agreed to their removal to safety in Valencia. An engrossing story of a landmark work of art and the struggle "to fashion meaning out of unimaginable evil, once more to offer hope." (Kirkus Reviews)

Sunday Times
'[Martin] has produced a skilful blend of art, politics and history.'

The Spectator
‘A fascinating account...Martin exhibits considerable skill in weaving the history of the picture into the history of its times’

Customer Reviews

Irony
Hanging in The United Nations is a tapestry that replicates the image of the painting that is the subject of Russell Martin's book, "Picasso's War". The painting is "Guernica" that Picasso created as a response to the destruction of a small town that is of the same name but at times is also spelled "Gernika". The first bit of irony I experienced while reading this wonderful book is that the tapestry hangs in The United Nations but is covered when various topics are discussed. For instance, when Secretary of State Colin Powell recently gave his presentation to The UN on Iraq the tapestry was covered, lest any television or print cameras photograph those speaking with the tapestry as a backdrop. So firstly there is this internationally renowned anti-war symbol hung in a building that rarely averts violence or acts quickly to prevent the spread of violence. And then when the possibility of violence is discussed, the imaged is removed from view.

The second instance was a personal experience involving the author, for on the day he was in Spain viewing the original work that documented the bombing of a civilian population by airplanes; the city of New York was targeted by airplanes used as massive flying bombs. The events that took place in Spain that shared the sorrow of that day are amongst the most poignant in the book. The similarity of events also made relevant once again a quote of Picasso's, "War's end, but hostilities endure forever".

The decisions and events that lead to the targeting of a civilian population in a manner that at times bordered on sport are repulsive, but are also familiar as they were repeated so many times in the 20th Century, and virtually every other century one may care to examine. Picasso managed to place on a massive canvas images that are horrible, but in a manner that is unique and that has made the image one that has been adopted for human cruelty around the world.

Author Russell Martin has created a well crafted book that is a work of History, Politics, Art, and Sociology. It is an extremely readable book for anyone interested in 20th Century events. You don't need to be an admirer of Picasso, you can even dislike his work and it will have little impact on how much you will enjoy this book. For what the author has done is to take what has become an icon for a variety of tragic and shameful human behaviors, and trace it from it's origins to the controversial location where it resides today. Nothing about Picasso's massive work is without controversy, except for the people who stand in endless lines to view it, almost everyone else involved in its custodianship since Picasso's death has little to be proud of and much to account for.

War often can be distilled down to one group coveting that which another has, and then using escalating levels of violence to make it their own. Picasso created a documentary of the result of these human failings, and had he lived he would have seen how his work became yet another object for an elite few to argue over and covet, while the masses that he painted it for have waited for decades to even view what he created for them.

Flawed masterpiece
As 'Guernica' was the painting that introduced me to the works of Picasso, I was really looking forward to this book.

And it's a convincing tale well told - with such a work of art (still) inextricably linked to international politics and war (both world and civil) Russell Martin does a competent job of placing the work into the necessary socio-political context.

The illustrations don't do the painting justice - but how can you adequately illustrate Guernica in a small book anyway? Even weighty art books about the painting stuggle with this.

It's a history of 'Guernica' as symbolic art rather than an analysis of the painting per se, whereas some fans may want to know more about the creative processes behind the production of the painting.

More 'art' and a larger format may have made this a great book, but as it stands it's certainly a good book about the trials and tribulations of a great painting.

A picture could have saved thousands of words
This is a facinating account of one of the world's great pictures. It's an amazing story of how the power of a painting is built over time. Reputations are earnt by paintings just as much as by people it seems. My only complaints are the lack of decent illustrations (I can recommend Picasso: Guernica published by Scala as the perfect companion) and the overly American slant which is understandable given the author's nationality. Still, read it.