Guernica's Condition: Robust or Fragile?

Pablo Picasso, "Guernica," 1937, Reina Sofia, Madrid

Does Picasso's "Guernica," one of the most celebrated paintings of the 20th century, have "a robust constitution," or is it in "stable but serious" condition?

That depends on whether you ask Manuel Borja-Villel, the director of Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum, who provided the upbeat description (as reported by the Associated Press), or Jorge Garcia Gomez-Tejedor, the same museum's conservator, who delivered the downbeat diagnosis to journalist Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, reporting for the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.

One thing that they both agree on: It shouldn't travel. Ever since it opened in 1997, the Guggenheim Bilbao, in the Basque region, has been unsuccessfully seeking a loan of this powerful depiction of the effects of the 1937 German bombing of the Basque town of Guernica.

The treatment of the painting by the Museum of Modern Art, where Picasso had decreed the painting should remain until democracy returned to Spain, came in for some scrutiny in the El Pais piece. (MoMA returned the painting to Spain in 1981.)

According to El Pais, new x-rays show that the painting still bears traces of a 1974 graffiti attack by Tony Shafrazi (now a Chelsea art dealer). The article also appears to call into question MoMA conservators' treatment of the painting, which "affected it chromatically."

MoMA's spokesperson, Kim Mitchell, declined (via e-mail) to provide details on the condition of the painting while it was in New York. She wrote:

The best way for you to get information on the history and condition reports (including the time the work was at MoMA) is to contact the Reina Sofia directly, since they are the owners of the painting and the originators of the report.

The painting last underwent technical examination 10 years ago, which revealed "129 imperfections, ranging from cracks to creases to marks and stains," according to AP. Another rigorous technical examination is now underway, with results to be reported in 2010.

Although the painting apparently won't be moved from the Reina Sofia, it HAS moved WITHIN it---to a new installation, Guernica in Context, which attempts to evoke its first exhibition at the Spanish Pavilion of the 1937 Universal Exposition in Paris, including works also exhibited there, such as a Calder sculpture, "Mercury the Source" (now on loan from the Calder Foundation), and a film, "Espagne 1936," directed by Jean Paul Dreyfus, written by Luis Buñuel.