The Power of Interpretation (or How MoMA explained Guernica to its audience)

GIUNTA, ANDREA

Artelogie. Recherches sur les arts, le patrimoine et la litterature de l'Amerique latine

L'ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales - Association Escal

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2017 p. 1 - 17

In 1947 the publication in English of the book of Juan Larrea, Guernica. Pablo Picasso, produced a great bewilderment in Alfred Barr, who was in charge of the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The interpretation of the Spanish writer radically contradicted what Barr believed correct, based on the artist?s words. In order to establish the final interpretation of the painting, Barr organized a symposium at MoMA. This essay analyzes the debate that took place through the minutes of the conference and the correspondence and interprets the reasons why it was so important to establish the meaning of the picture.