SPANISH PAVILION PARIS, 1937, THE

The Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris is perhaps best known for Pablo Picasso´s Guernica, which was commissioned by the Spanish government as a centerpiece for the Pavilion´s artistic and diplomatic mission: to obtain support from the international community in defense of the Republic. Since then, Guernica has become the most widely recognized and reproduced work from the Pavilion. However, the narratives presented in the Pavilion about the Republic and the Civil War were built upon a foundation that went beyond the singular iconicity of one painting by forging relationships among different media, themes, and artistic styles. In addition to the work of artists like Julio González, Alberto Sánchez, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and José Gutiérrez-Solana, the Pavilion was designed by architects Josep Lluís Sert and Luis Lacasa to function as a kiosk or platform for the complex interweaving of architecture, photography, and the popular arts.