La Museo de Reina Sofia Madrid Spain

On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to visit the Queen Sofia Museum in downtown Madrid. The museum showcases work from Picasso, Dalí, and Marí. We attended the museum to take a closer look at one of Picasso’s more famous paintings, the Guernica.

Guernica was painted in 1937 by Picasso after he had fled Spain for France due to Dictator Franco’s rule. General Francisco Franco was a Spanish Military Leader who came to power during the Spanish Civil War and took control from 1936 till his death in 1975. While in France, Picasso had heard of the bombing of Guernica in northern Spain by Franco and decided to paint the Guernica for the 1937 World’s Fair in France to bring the world’s attention to Spain. The painting has traveled the world and has returned to Spain in 1975 in accordance to Picasso’s single condition. That the painting shall only return to Spain when Franco is no longer in power.