Guernica

Picasso's Guernica has become the defining 20th century image of civilian suffering in war. Endlessly reproduced, it has been held aloft at demonstrations and reworked by artists around the world - a version even hangs outside the UN Security Council chamber. But how did a work designed as a fund-raiser, a canvas rolled up like a carpet and shipped around the world, become a global icon ?

In this series, art historian Dr James Fox traces the twists of fate and happy accidents that pushed a handful of artworks to the forefront of pop culture. For Guernica, it's a journey that began at the World's Fair in Paris in 1937, taking in both a car showroom in Manchester and a palazzo in Milan, as well as many years at New York's MoMA and its current, contested home in Madrid.

Throughout that odyssey, Guernica has remained a touchstone for politics and for protest, as James discovers.

Producer – Julia Johnson
Executive Producer – Jonathon Mayo
Junior Producer - Jamie Adam
Sound Design - Tom Burchell
Production Manager – Sera Baker

A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4