QUOTE(Amlord)
Given its history and its message, my question would be : why should they? "Masterpiece" is in the eye of the beholder.
From your response, I gather you are not a fan of the arts. Art appreciation requires an open mind, and a depth of understanding beyond the dismissive.
Art is supposed to make people think and feel. If it informs and educates in the process, so much the better. Art is no less powerful because it expresses a belief you don’t adhere to – in fact, it makes it even more powerful.
One of the most famous political paintings, Picasso’s Guernica, shocked people, because it depicted an atrocity committed by the Germans against a small Basque village in 1937. It traveled the world, alerting people to the horror perpetrated against the people of Guernica and rallying support for the anti-fascist cause.
QUOTE
Approximately 1,700 of Guernica's 5,000 inhabitants were killed or wounded. The fires that engulfed the city burned for three days. Isolated farms as far away as four miles were bombed. Juan Silliaco a survivor of the attack recalls, "The air was alive with the cries of the wounded. I saw a man crawling down the street, dragging his broken legs. . . . Pieces of people and animals were lying everywhere . . . . In the wreckage there was a young woman. I could not take my eyes off her. Bones stuck through her dress. Her head twisted right around her neck. She lay, mouth open, her tongue hanging out. I vomited and lost consciousness" (Gordan, Morgan 258).
Picasso's monumental painting reminds humankind of one of the first acts of modern "total war" waged against a defenseless population. Picasso's painting is the quintessential example of humankind's senseless inhumanity to humankind. It creates a horrific image of humankind with which the observer must reckon. Through the art of Guernica Picasso educates us not only about April 26, 1937, but also about humankind and our tradition of war.
SourceI found this quote in an interview, and I believe it expresses what I’m trying to say much more eloquently:
QUOTE
“That's right, and you know, the truth in the hands of artists, even when they are telling a fiction, even when they are inventing something, becomes a very powerful thing. Because what artists do is lend passion and emotion --
they lend a kind of spiritual element to reality that enhances the truth, which gives it an intensity that a simple matter of recounting facts will not accomplish.”
Howard ZinnIt seems that Guernica is still shocking people. How ironic is it that this happened when it did:
QUOTE
On January 27, 2003, the Guernica reproduction hanging outside the entrance of the United Nations Security Council, was covered with a large blue curtain. Press Secretary of the U.N., Fred Eckhard, said the covering provided "an appropriate background for the cameras."
Obviously some were concerned that Picasso's antiwar masterwork would not make a good backdrop for speeches and press conferences advocating the bombing and invasion of Iraq. As the United States talks about it's "shock and awe" strategy (the potential launching of over 800 Cruise Missiles against Baghdad in two days), and it's willingness to use "bunker busting nuclear bombs" against Iraq... Picasso's work is a chilling reminder of what such military operations would mean for civilian populations.
Australian parliamentary representative Laurie Brereton spoke before the Australian Parliament on February 4th and said the following. "There is a
profound symbolism in pulling a shroud over this great work of art. For throughout the debate on Iraq, whether at the UN, in the US, or here in Australia, there has been a remarkable degree of obfuscation, evasion and denial, and never more so than when it comes to the grim realities of military action."
The censoring of Piccaso's mural is illustrative of art's immense power. Art for a Change