‘Guernica’ Did Nothing—Which Is Why It Still Matters

Picasso's Masterpiece Teaches Us How Antiwar Art's Power Lies in This Paradox

This month marks the anniversary of one of the many atrocities of the last century carried out in the cause of nationalism. On Monday, April 26, 1937, less than a year after dissident Spanish generals launched a coup d’état against a democratically elected coalition government, German and Italian airplanes bombed Gernika, in the Basque Country of Spain.

Within a week, Pablo Picasso commenced the mural-sized painting— “Guernica,” using the Spanish rendering of the Basque town’s name—that now stands as the exemplar among artists’ public opposition to war.

There was no military reason …

Unburying Franco and the Crimes of the Spanish Civil War | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Unburying Franco and the Crimes of the Spanish Civil War

For Six Decades, Spain Told a Dictator's Story. For the Past 22 Years, Citizens Have Been Creating a New Memory Landscape

Provocatively deemed “The Spanish Holocaust” by historian Paul Preston, the Spanish Civil War—a conflict, extending from 1936 to 1939 that resulted in the repression, torture, and death of hundreds of …

Why Monterey’s 250th Birthday Bodes Well for California’s Future | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Monterey’s 250th Birthday Bodes Well for California’s Future

The Peninsula City Has Long Embodied the Golden State’s Ability to Be a Hideaway That Welcomes Both Immigrants and Ideas

Monterey turns 250 years old next month. And the rest of the state should claim the date as its birthday too.

California is an orphan of a state, …

Just Before Madrid’s Quarantine Began, Getting a Last Look at Goya | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

A Letter from Madrid, Where Impending Quarantine Permits a Last Look at Goya

In Times of Uncertainty, Art Is a Reminder That Beauty Can Endure

The day the Spanish government announced a two-week closure of all schools and colleges in Madrid due to coronavirus, I was in Berkana, the city’s oldest gay bookstore, considering whether …

How Flamenco Explains Spain’s Complex Identity | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How Flamenco Explains Spain’s Complex Identity

The Music, Born of Gypsies in the Country’s South, Was Embraced by Foreigners Long Before It Became a National Symbol

During the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, an advertisement for the Bates textile company in the Pavilion of Spain’s official guide book featured a fetchingly posed young woman, rose in …