Fighting Fascism at the Museo Reina Sofia

By accident we approached the museum from the rear entrance between the 2005 glass and steel additions and the 18^th Century Sabatini building. As a result we found ourselves in a soaring courtyard with a giant whimsical sculpture in the center. We went immediately to the open plaza on the top floor and looked over the city of Madrid. We loved it. The Reina Sofia already had our hearts.

Above all the other art that can be seen in Madrid, I wanted to see Picasso's Guernica. I had seen it sometime in the early 1970s at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Picasso gave MOMA the painting for safe keeping in 1938. When I saw it, I was somewhat underwhelmed. It seemed poorly displayed, out of place and did not create the intense impact I expected.

Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 for the Spanish Pavilion of the World's Fair in Paris. At that time the Spanish Civil War was raging. The Spanish monarchy was dissolved in 1932 and an elected republican government established. The 1936 election swept a left-wing coalition, called the Popular Front, into power. Right-wing Nationalist forces attempted a failed coup d'etat in July 1936.

Led by General Francisco Franco, the Nationalist forces didn't give up. Open civil war broke out. The Spanish Civil War immediately became the symbol of the struggle between authoritarianism and progressive democracy. The war lasted until Franco's victory in April 1939, leaving up to half a million dead, many of them civilians. Franco obtained military support from Fascist Italy and Fascist Germany. The Popular Front received aide from the Soviet Union and France as well as many volunteer International Brigades.

During those times a life or death struggle raged throughout Europe between those who believed the state should be used to redistribute wealth and those who believed the state should defend the status quo. Giant Russia executed its monarchs, rejected its traditional ruling class and transformed into the Communist Soviet Union. Vested economic interests in the rest of Europe were more than a little concerned by this development. In the countries that had suffered the most from World War I, a new political force emerged that promised to solve the threat to stability posed by the communists and at the same time provide a modern social welfare state, Fascism.

In Germany and Italy Fascism proved quite popular and swept into power. Hitler and Mussolini quickly built massive military machines they justified by constantly referring to the threat of communism. In republican Spain, the Civil War became the focus of this battle for the soul of Europe.

On April 26, 1937 Franco arranged an air attack on a small Basque town to be carried out by his German and Italian allies. That town, Guernica, had no military significance. The Basques generally opposed Franco, and he wanted to show them how ruthless he could be. Carpet bombing totally destroyed the town and killed 1000 or more civilians. The era of total war had begun.

At the time of the bombing Picasso had already made plans for a different painting for the World's Fair. When he realized the enormity of what had happened in his country, he decided to take Guernica as his subject. Picasso said of the painting, “I clearly express my abhorrence of the military caste which has sunk Spain in an ocean of pain and death.” With Franco's victory, Picasso vowed never to set foot in his native Spain as long as Franco ruled.

After the Paris Exposition, Picasso arranged for Guernica to be held by the Museum of Modern Art but specified that it be returned to Spain should a democratic republic ever be established. The painting was finally returned to Spain in 1981 and hung at the Prado. In 1992 it was moved to its current home at the Museo Reina Sofia where it hangs in a special gallery. Adjourning galleries show about two dozen preparatory works and a series of photographs showing the mural as it was being painted.

We slowly wandered through the Reina Sofia taking in the astounding collection of 20^th Century Spanish art. Gradually the galleries filled with groups of school children. This museum has perhaps the finest collection of surrealism anywhere in the world, so the kids were quite well amused. Each class of about 25 kids were accompanied by a teacher who worked hard to keep them informed about what they were seeing and moving along.

Finally, we reached the painting I had come all this way to see again. The room is very large and dimly lit. The mural hangs alone on one whole wall. My first thought was how stark, how simply powerful it looked. Then to my initial dismay, a whole class of 8-year-olds filed into the gallery, briefly obstructing my view. Their teacher organized them on the floor about six feet from the painting. They quickly sat and quieted down.

For the next fifteen minutes their young teacher quietly spoke with the kids, gesturing occasionally at the painting. He spoke so softly I couldn't really hear him. The kids paid absolute attention. The gallery had become a side chapel in some great cathedral. The kids were in total awe.

Although I couldn't understand him, I knew the teacher was explaining the history of the Spanish Civil War, of Franco's authoritarian regime and of Fascism.

A hidden scar in the Spanish psyche was left by the decades of Franco's authoritarian rule. By now the elected government has done its best to remove all official recognition of Franco. Most government buildings and streets named for him have resumed their original names. The last statue of Franco in Spain was torn down in 2008.

Those who suffered under Franco live on, but do not recover. They hide the scar, but it will be with them for the rest of their lives. The only hope for the future is those kids on the floor in the Reina Sofia. I felt privileged to be present as they learned to live as free people.