Canva adaptation of Moreno Mural's artwork (@morenomural) by Global Voices. Art used with permission.
Few paintings symbolize the pain and absurdity of war as Pablo Picasso's Guernica, a masterpiece he finished in 1937. The painting, 3.49 meters (11 feet 5 inches) tall and 7.76 m (25 ft. 6 in.) wide, encapsulates the violence and chaos in which hundreds of thousands of people perished during Spain's civil war (1936-1939). Guernica is the name of a Basque town that was bombarded by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in 1937.
One of the most striking elements in the surrealist piece is the madre con niño muerto (mother with dead child) depicted at the bottom left of the frame: a mother, crying out in anguish and pain while holding her dead baby in her arms. Picasso would paint postscripts of this figure in his later works.
“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso (1937). Wikimedia Commons, under fair use license under low resolution.
More than 80 years after the bombardment of Guernica, Palestine is experiencing widespread massacres at the hands of the Israeli authorities, exacerbated by the inaction of foreign powers, and children have not been spared. They, too, are victims of bombing, violence, and famine. According to the United Nations, since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in 2023, more than 50,000 Palestinian children have been killed or injured. Many have died in their mothers’ arms.
Now, eight Spanish artists, in calling for a stop to the war on Gaza, are reimagining Picasso's emblematic painting. They hope to stir emotion in Spain's collective consciousness by directly drawing a comparison with its painful history.
Photo by Sara Montero, a member of PararLaGuerra, taken during the first exhibit in March 2025. Used with permission.
The exhibit Madre del Guernika (Mother of Guernika) was first shown in front of the Museum Reina Sofía in Madrid in March 2025. About three months later, on June 14, Parar la Guerra, a Spanish anti-war movement federating dozens of organizations, displayed the various large-scale art pieces in the public square once again. This time, however, they were unveiled in front of the Spanish Parliament ahead of massive demonstrations against the genocide in Palestine, which were being held across Spain.
Major cultural referents, such as filmmaker Pedro Almódovar, called on people to demonstrate against the war as thousands took to the Spanish street. A representative of Parar la Guerra said during the demonstrations:
Tras la ruptura del precario alto el fuego el 18 de marzo, la violencia ha escalado. Estamos ante uno de los momentos más crueles y mortíferos de la matanza que el gobierno israelí lleva veinte meses perpetrando contra una población civil inocente, desarmada e indefensa.
After the breakdown of the precarious cease-fire on March 18, the violence has escalated. We are facing one of the most cruel and deadly moments of the slaughter that the Israeli government has been perpetrating for twenty months against an innocent, unarmed and defenseless civilian population.
You can view the collection of artworks, below.
Artwork by Moreno Mural (@morenomural), used with permission.
Artwork by Jacobo Palos Wey (@jacobopaloswey), used with permission.
Artwork by Anita Muñoz Rivera (@alonatural17), used with permission.
Artwork by Klina (@Klina_art), used with permission.
Artwork by Victor “Konestilo” (@Konestiloart), used with permission.
Artwork by Nauni69 (@nauni69), used with permission.
Artwork by Jota López (@jotalo), used with permission.
Artwork by Jesús Soriano Ñuku (@nukugraffiti) reimagining the sculpture “Pietà” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, in Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. Used with permission.
