Inside Guernica

Last Sunday's reopening of the expanded Whitechapel Gallery with a tapestry of Picasso's anti-war daub Guernica (1937) as its centrepiece (CLICK) has prompted BBC Magazine to publish Inside Guernica, an appraisal of its meaning by Gijs van Hensbergen (title link). I love the phrase "apocalyptic knacker's yard" to describe the painting, but the symbolism and biographical tittle-tattle of the rest of it quickly palled. If a work needs a long-winded blurb for our edification, it must be rubbish. Still, Inside Guernica is an essential read for those of you who enjoy playing one-upmanship with impressionable friends who know nothing about art.