Spanish culture ministry denies loan of Picasso's Guernica to Bilbao

Spain’s culture ministry has denied a request from the Basque government to loan Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937) from Madrid’s Reina Sofía to Guggenheim Bilbao for a proposed exhibition running 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027. On 7 April, culture minister Ernest Urtasun told parliament that conservation experts advised against moving the painting due to risks such as new cracks, paint-layer lifting and loss, and tears, citing a Reina Sofía report describing micro-cracks and paint losses along the canvas edge. Basque leader Imanol Pradales (EAJ-PNV) warned it would be a “serious political mistake” to close the door on the issue, which was tied to commemorations of the 90th anniversary of the first Basque government and the 1937 bombing of Gernika. The article also recounts the work’s custody history: acquired by the Spanish Republic in 1937, held at MoMA from 1939, returned to Spain in September 1981, shown at the Prado, and transferred to the Reina Sofía in 1992.

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