Basques seek Guernica

Basque nationalists, who have recently laid down their arms, want more than just peace. They want Pablo Picasso’s art masterwork “Guernica“ too. Currently on display at the Reina Sofia Art Centre Museum in Madrid, the iconic Cubist painting -inspired by the Nazi bombing of the town of Guernica on April 26, 1937, which killed some 1,600 people - has become a universal symbol of the horrors of war. But for the Basques, “Guernica“ has an even stronger resonance because the town that gave its name to the painting is seen as the cradle of their identity. The Basque government formally requested that Spain “temporarily“ transfer the painting to the Guggenheim Art Museum in Bilbao for the 70th anniversary of the Guernica bombing. But the artwork by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, who spent most of his life in exile, has suffered from its many travels around the world. Irish Art