Les métamorphoses de Guernica

From April 8 to September 6, 2026, the Musée national Picasso-Paris will present an unprecedented virtual reality experience dedicated to the masterpiece Guernica.

Les métamorphoses de Guernica offers an unprecedented deep dive into one of the major masterpieces of the 20th century.

This virtual reality experience traces the history of Pablo Picasso's monumental painting, from its commission for the 1937 Paris International Exhibition to its status as an icon, a symbol of peace.

The experience invites the viewer to journey through a succession of significant moments and places: the Spanish Republican Pavilion, where the work was first revealed to the public; the ruins of the Basque city of Gernika after the bombing that inspired the painting; the Parisian studio on rue des Grands-Augustins, where the work was created; and finally, the various travels of the canvas before its definitive installation at the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.

The narrative is carried by the voices of two privileged witnesses: that of the writer Juan Larrea, a member of the Spanish Republican delegation, and that of Dora Maar, a surrealist artist and the artist's companion, whose anti-fascist commitment was decisive in the birth of this political work and who documented the genesis of the work through a series of photographs.

At the crossroads of art history and sensory immersion, Les métamorphoses de Guernica proposes a new way of understanding the history of this work of universal scope, resonating with the collections of the Musée national Picasso-Paris, which allow for an appreciation of his entire oeuvre and which preserve preliminary studies, archival documents, and a corpus of works closely linked to the creation of Guernica.

“The Musée national Picasso-Paris wished to complement the visit to its collections with a VR film that presents Guernica (1937), a major work by Picasso.

This emblematic painting of his commitment against Franco's regime, an essential historical painting of the 20th century, marks a crucial stage in his career. It was important to evoke it, thanks to the use of techn