id: 291423 accession number: 2016.486 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.486 updated: 2024-03-26 02:01:52.209000 A portrait of the late founder of the Basque Nationalist Movement, Sabino Arena, being carried through the streets of Guernica. It was 40 years ago on the 26th of April 1937 that planes of Hitler's "Condor Legion" destroyed the sacred town of the Basques "Guernica" on the bay of Biscay near Bilbao. German Heinkels and Junker planes set the town ablaze with their incendiary bombs, but the following day Franco's propaganda machine spread the rumor that the town had been burnt by its inhabitants rather than deliver it to the enemy. For the first time the authorities have allowed a mass memorial reunion for the survivors of the bombing and machine gun firing squads. Its present 19,000 inhabitants have not forgotten their tragic history. School children of the Bilbao art school made a full scale reproduction of Picasso's "Guernica" mural and displayed it in front of the city hall. Guernica, Spain, 1977, 1977. Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006). Vintage gelatin silver print; image: 22.5 x 15 cm (8 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.); paper: 24 x 18 cm (9 7/16 x 7 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2016.486 © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos title: A portrait of the late founder of the Basque Nationalist Movement, Sabino Arena, being carried through the streets of Guernica. It was 40 years ago on the 26th of April 1937 that planes of Hitler's "Condor Legion" destroyed the sacred town of the Basques "Guernica" on the bay of Biscay near Bilbao. German Heinkels and Junker planes set the town ablaze with their incendiary bombs, but the following day Franco's propaganda machine spread the rumor that the town had been burnt by its inhabitants rather than deliver it to the enemy. For the first time the authorities have allowed a mass memorial reunion for the survivors of the bombing and machine gun firing squads. Its present 19,000 inhabitants have not forgotten their tragic history. School children of the Bilbao art school made a full scale reproduction of Picasso's "Guernica" mural and displayed it in front of the city hall. Guernica, Spain, 1977 title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1977 creation date earliest: 1977 creation date latest: 1977 current location: creditline: Gift of George Stephanopoulos copyright: © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos --- culture: America technique: vintage gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006) - artist Born in Brooklyn to Jewish, working-class parents of Eastern European descent, Leonard Freed (1929–2006) went to Europe to become a painter but instead discovered photography. After studying the medium in New York City, he worked as a documentary photographer and photojournalist in Europe. In 1972 he joined Magnum, the celebrated collaborative photo agency. Freed’s photographs in this exhibition are from Black in White America, a series inspired by an experience he had while covering the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. As he photographed an African American soldier guarding the border, it struck Freed that this man was risking his life to defend a country that limited his own rights. Freed returned to New York to undertake a multiyear exploration of African American life. Freed began shooting around New York, and then traveled extensively throughout the South. He spent time in communities getting to know his subjects, and kept a journal recording his impressions and their stories and words. During these years, he also covered Martin Luther King Jr. and numerous civil rights events, but when Freed published Black in White America in 1968, the book focused instead on the fabric of daily life. As a photojournalist, Freed was an observer rather than a participant, but not an impartial one. He believed that “photography is about who you are. It’s the seeking of truth in relation to yourself.” --- measurements: Image: 22.5 x 15 cm (8 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.); Paper: 24 x 18 cm (9 7/16 x 7 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Imprinted in purple type on verso: “GUERNICA” 40 Years after its devestation, April 26, 1977, Spain 11-24/It was 40 years ago on the 26th April 1937 that planes of Hitler’s “Condor/Legion” destroyed the Sacred town of the Basques “Gernica” on the bay of Biscay/near Bilbao. German Heinkels and Junker planes set the town ablaze with their/incendiary bombs, but the following day Franco’s propaganda machine spread the/rumour that the town had been burnt by its inhabitants rather than deliver it/to the enemy. For the first time the authorities have allowed a mass memorial/reunion for the survivors of the bombing and machine gun firing squads. Its/present 19,000 inhabitants have not forgotten their tragic history, school-/children of the Bilbao art school made a full scale reproduction of Picasso’s/”Guernica” mural and displayed it in front of the city Hall./Photos by Leonard Freed-Magnum” Written in pencil on verso: “1977 Guernica, Spain.” Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: “MAG00100394-/337” Stamped in black ink on verso: “VINTAGE PRINT” Stamped in black ink on verso: “© Leonard Freed-Magnum” Imprinted in purple type on verso: “Photo 12. (11.D/15a-16) a portrait of the late founder of the Basque/Nationalist Movement Sabino Arena, being carried through the/streets of Guernica.” Written in red ink two times on verso: “932” Written in pencil on verso: “LFSP-43.2 3000” translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES