alt Hacker NewsI went to Spain as a teenager and saw Guernica in person. It was the first painting to ever really have an effect on me. It's stunning. A perfect example of how art can transmit a message between people across time and space, I just knew that I was feeling how Picasso wanted me to feel.
If you have the chance to see this painting you should, no website can do it justice (although this is a very nice try).
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Every time I'm in Madrid I get up early (and since in Spain you eat at like 11pm that's not easy) and go to the museum the moment it opens just to get to Guernica and get as much time with it by myself as I can.
That early, before the tour groups have made it that far into the museum, you can actually get the entire space to yourself for >30 minutes and it's never left me not weeping.
It is stunning, particularly so if you read up on the history beforehand and then see all the elements in the painting. It’s the first time I was able to appreciate a Picasso for all the complexity he put into his paintings.
I was similarly stunned by one of the Anselm Kiefers at the Bilbao Guggenheim. Some paintings can only be appreciated in person.
I had the same feeling when I saw it years ago. Dread, sadness, and a sinking stomach.
A few weeks ago I was vacationing in the Basque country, and realized Guernica (the town) was a mere half hour drive away. So we went. Although none of the town in any way reminds you of the depictions of the painting (save for some memorials), I kept feeling the same eerie dread even as I walked through a perfectly normal, pleasant sleepy town.
I have been to a bunch of galleries and seeing a painting in person doesn't usually make a difference for me compared to seeing it in a book.
Guernica is one of the few that did. Perhaps because it's massive compared to other well known paintings.
So, I just want to say, I second your recommendation for seeing it in person.