How Did Picasso Painted Guernica

Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 as his homeland Spain was being torn apart by a bloody civil war. He was living in Paris at the time, and was commissioned by the Spanish Government to create an entry for the world Exposition. Picasso was having little success coming up with inspiration, but that all changed when he was made aware of the horrific bombing of a small village in Northern Spain – called Guernica. Late afternoon on Monday the 26th April 1937, Nazi and Italian warplanes used Guernica for bombing practice at the urging of the Spanish Fascist’s. As most of the town’s men were away fighting in the civil war, women and children were the main victims of this ruthless attack, which left more than 1,600 people