Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica and Picasso's Masterpiece [Hardcover]

'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

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

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

'An impressively diligent book'

‘Well-conceived and intelligently felt’

‘A well-conceived and intelligently felt book’

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

‘An impressively diligent book’

'Ingenious . . . Martin turns up a host of fascinating detail'

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.

Russell Martin is the author of six previous books, including BEETHOVEN'S HAIR. He divides his time between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah.