4/26/37; the first use of massed aerial bombing was an unqualified success for Hitler's Condor Legion-and it began Franco's crushing of the separatist Basque regions of Northern Spain. For the Basque peoples it remains a tragic day as the target chosen was a civilian one; www.naBASQUE.org Air power became the decisive tool in Franco's conquest of the rest of Spain and Hitler's military establishment had found a new tool. Photoshopped attatchment courtesy of Spaniard. JeffinMNUSA PS. My theory on tinting and colorizing old B&Ws is that it makes history more accessable to young people.
Here's an excerpt from a contemporary issue of The Times: [FONT="]Guernica, the most ancient town of the Basques and the centre of their cultural tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by insurgent air raiders. The bombardment of this open town far behind the lines occupied precisely three hours and a quarter, during which a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three German types, Junkers and Heinkel bombers and Heinkel fighters, did not cease unloading on the town bombs weighing from 1,000lb. downwards and, it is calculated, more than 3,000 two-pounder aluminium incendiary projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the centre of the town to machine-gun those of the civilian population who had taken refuge in the fields.[/FONT] Picasso Guernica - the horror behind the painting Of course, the event was the impetus for one of the most well-known pieces of art by Pablo Picasso. I never really understood the mural until I read more about the event.
Picasso's art, and Bob Capa's famous image (below) were the icons of the Spanish Civil war. Since proven to be faked, but still powerful in it's time.
Seen Pablos painting many times, yes I heard that picture was faked but like you stated was considered a powerful picture for those times. Guernica ~ 'TOWN DESTROYED IN AIR ATTACK' Guernica, the ancient capital of the Basque region, was destroyed on 27th April 1936. There was a great deal of argument about who bombed Guernica and how in press reports and subsequent histories. This is part of the most (re)published report of the bombing of Guernica. It was written by George L. Steer and published in the London Times on April 28, 1937. Steer was called a "special correspondent" in today's terminology an 'embedded journalist'. "Guernica, the most ancient town of the Basques and the center of their cultural tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by insurgent air raiders. The bombardment of this open town far behind the lines occupied precisely three hours and a quarter, during which a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three German ... bombers ... The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the center of the town to machine-gun those of the civilian population who had taken refuge in the fields. .... At 2 a.m. today when I visited the town the whole of it was a horrible sight, flaming from end to end. The reflection of the flames could be seen in the clouds of smoke above the mountains from 10 miles away. Throughout the night houses were falling until the streets became long heaps of red impenetrable debris." Guernica and Picasso Why did Picasso paint his most famous painting in black and white? The huge mural shows the effects of the bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War on 26th April 1937. Picasso was in Paris preparing to paint a mural for the Spanish pavilion of the International exhibition when news of the bombing of Guernica broke as a text story by the Times reporter George L Steer, 28th April 1937, – photographs arrived later. Picasso began work on 1 May and completed Guernica about 5 June - 5 weeks later. In a period of intense activity he produced the amazing, searing image of ‘Guernica’ and scores of drawings and sketches. “...cries of children cries of women cries of birds cries of flowers cries of timbers and of stones cries of bricks cries of furniture...” (poem by Picasso, 1937). How do we feel or hear the agony of a silent scream? How does that work? ...the horse in Guernica... see also Munch’s ‘The Scream’; the Nurse in ‘Battleship Potemkin’; and the student in the Kent State University images (later made into a screen print by the British artist Richard Hamilton); the painting collaging the Potemkin Nurse and Pope by Francis Bacon. The stages of the painting of Guernica were witnessed and documented in black and white photographs by Dora Maar, providing one of the most complete records of the emergence of a great work of art ever made. Though, as with many witness accounts, it reveals little in the way of meaning, but rather presents a succession of new realities. The French film director, Jean-Luc Godard, said that 'film is not the representation of reality, it is the reality of the representation'. Large size image of Guernica. Shapes of Time - using TALMOS Gateway: Spanish Civil War A Look At Picasso and Guernica Art Piece http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=26608 number of people variously estimated between 250 and 1,600 were killed in the air raid and many more were injured. http://www.ulike.net/Guernica
Today is accepted that there were between 170 and 400 killed. I read the English conservative press magnified the bombing of Guernica to influence British opinion in favor of to increase th spending in the Air Force. Link (in spanish)
