"Guernica"" "relates the powerful story of Picasso's 1937 masterpiece, a painting that from its birth out of war and violence became kn own worldwide as a symbolic cry for peace. The acclaimed biographer of Gaudi traces the iconic painting's beginnings amid the Spanish Civil War through its use as a weapon in the propaganda battle against Fascism, through the years when it became the nucleus of the Museum of Modern Art's creation in New York, to its role as a symbol of reconciliation when it returned to Spain after the death of Franco, as democracy was reestablished.

Of all the great paintings in the world, the story of Pablo Picasso's Guernica may tell us more about the last century's history than any other. In this new book by Gijs van Hensbergen, the acclaimed biographer of Gaudí, the author explores the life of this key cultural icon from its birth to the present day. He tells the story of the painting's beginnings, amid the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War; describes its use as a weapon in the propaganda battle against Fascism; tells how it traveled overseas to become the nucleus of the Museum of Modern Art's creation in New York; and finally writes movingly of its role as a symbol of reconciliation for Spain after the death of Franco, when it returned to that country as democracy was reestablished.

Guernica is a story of national struggle, political exile, and the power of art as a tool of protest and of healing. Ingeniously chronicling the last century using Picasso's visionary tableau, van Hensbergen offers a new way of understanding our own history.

Gijs van Hensbergen is an art historian and Hispanist. In March 2013 he was featured on "God's Architect," a CBS profile of Gaudí's breathtaking Sagrada Familia for 60 Minutes. He has been a fellow at the Harry Ransom Center and the London School of Economics, and lectured all over the world, including at Oxford University, the National Gallery in London, the Prado, and the prestigious summer school at El Escorial. His previous books include Guernica: The Biography of a Twentieth-Century Icon and Antoni Gaudí: A Biography.