Literary Analysis Of Pablo Picasso's Guernica

A piece of art is not limited to a painting that captures a representation of imagery. Art is anything that stirs emotions in a person or makes them think, just like Marcel Duchamp accomplished in 1917 with one of his most famous pieces Fountain. Art can be anything that captures and represents the artists emotions, mental state, and personality with every brushstroke, and the usage of colors while also reflecting the mentality, thoughts, and major events that occur in a certain period, such as Picasso’s Guernica. To understand the message that the artist is trying to convey, one must look deeper than what is on the surface of the artwork, which is what I will do with this piece of art, scrutinizing its mysteries as well as its motives.

The painting “Guernica”, a black and white oil painting depicts the chaos that ensued World War II. It was painted by Pablo Picasso in his sharp, shaped style. At first glance, you notice an overwhelming amount of shapes, when looking closer those shapes become faces of despair and distress, which as one could imagine that is what the people of Spain were feeling prior to the bombing that inspired this painting. With odd shapes, and a large, chaos filled canvass, it defiantly puts on display its uncanny ability to attract the viewer into digging into the deeper meaning of this intriguing master piece.

TXT- This image was inspired by the cruelty of the Spanish Civil War, especially the demolition of the town of Guernica by the Germans who bombed them and this was the result of the aftermath in a painting. Pg 257

Guernica is monochromatic to make its imagery more powerful. Lack of color keeps the viewer focused on the subject matter at hand, as well as keeping the mural cold, which agrees with its general theme of injustice in war. Also, Picasso’s flat imagery does not distract the viewer from concentrating on imagery. The viewer is given no other choice than to concentrate on the subject matter of Guernica and ponder it’s meaning. The flat, grayscale images generalize the imagery and contribute to the general theme of unnecessary suffering and tragedy.

Right from the brink of World War II in 1939, an abundant amount of distinguished artwork was created in response to the events that took place before, during, and after the War. There is one painting in particular that I am referring to. This painting is none other than, famous artist, Pablo Picasso’s painting of Guernica. Guernica is a famous piece of artwork created in 1937. It depicts the bombings of a Basque Country village in northern Spain by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War. The attack was unsuspected and unavoidable. Nearly three-quarters of the people’s homes were demolished and a large number of their population perished. In the following paragraphs, I would like to talk briefly about Guernica in the sense of its content and historical context that pertain to World War II.

“Guernica” is one of the most well-known paintings in the world. It was painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937. The painting itself measures 11ftx 26.5ft. “Guernica” depicts the bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica during the Spanish civil war. The whole thing is done in a cubist style not surprising since Picasso is known for his cubism. In the painting there are people and animals alike all of them in pain and or suffering. “Guernica” is also filled with symbolism that Picasso incorporated into it, and hidden messages. The painting is also colorless it only uses black, white and, gray.

Another powerful and political piece of art is Picaso's Guernica. Painted after the bombing of the Basque town of the same name, Guernica reveals the horrors of war, and the anguish and chaos that war creates. The piece demonstrates how art can open our eyes to the cruelty of the world. Allison writes, “art should provoke more questions than answers and, most of all, should make us think about what we rarely want to think about at

The first is a human skull superimposed on the body of the horse. Second, is a bull goring the horse from below. The head of the bull is formed largely by the front leg of the horse, which has its knee on the ground. The knee cap of the horse makes up the bull’s nose, and the bull’s horn jabs at the horse’s breast. Underneath the horse lies a dead mutilated soldier, the hand of his severed arm still grasping a broken sword, from which a flower springs up. Also In the open palm of the dead soldier is a stigmata, symbolic of the sacrifices of Jesus Christ. The lantern and light bulb on the ceiling in the room is another interesting feature of the painting. The light bulb is surrounded by rays, which makes it look like the sun. The sun is the ultimate sign of life, and none of us can survive without the sun. The bulb can also be associated with the Spanish word for lightbulb, “bombilla”. This brings to mind the word “bomb”, which could symbolize the l impact of the bombing on humanity. The light bulb represents life, but also the death brought by the bombs that fell on Guernica. There are open doors at the very right of the painting as well as windows. The door appears to lead to a possible way to escape the terror within. Although the door is open now, it shows how easily that door could be shut and how easily escape could be cut off. The windows show that if something is not done to end the brutality of things

The artist’s color usage gives the audience a glimpse into the emotions and tone behind the piece. Both pieces are representations of death in response to political issues by focusing on the context of the artwork rather than visual appeal. The explicit images of death in both “Guernica” and “Gin Lane” relate to both work’s lack of color. Picasso’s painting “Guernica” was a reaction piece influenced by the Spanish Civil War. According to the UK’s History Learning Site, German forces bombed the small town of Guernica killing 1,654 civilians and wounding 889.

“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso was a black and white, mural oil painting created in June of 1937 on a 349 cm × 776 cm (137.4 in × 305.5 in) canvas. The piece represents the chaos that flooded the Spanish town of Guernica after a vicious bombing by the German and Italian forces during the Spanish Civil War. What followed was a senseless slaughter and bloodshed with the primary focus being the demoralization of the Basque people.

To complete Guernica, Picasso bounces of ideas from Goya's “The 3rd of May.” In Picasso painting there lies dead soldier has a stigmata on his hand that is a representation of the crucifixion. This refers back to Goya's main focus, the prisoner in white. This prisoner is being illuminated by the only source of artificial light present in the painting. With his arms raised it seem as once a plea for mercy, and a mirror image of the crucifixion. This is an evocation of christ's agony on the cross, which refers back to the stigmata present in Picasso's Guernica. Guernica was indeed one of Picasso’s greatest creations.

After the bombing on Guernica, the Basque people have nothing left. Their houses were burned, their families were killed, and their culture was crashed. However, by looking at Picasso's mural, we can see that despite grief and pain, the Basques still have a little hope left in them. Despite the irresponsibility from the government, the Basque race still managed to survive from this terrible tragedy. Last but not least, Picasso wants the world to give its blessings to these unfortunate people, because them too, are seeking for hope and blessings for the survival of the Basques race.

It lays a vast 11’5” x 25’6” expanse and today remains on permanent display in Museo Reina Sofia located in Madrid, Spain. At the time of his inspiration, Picasso had already been working for a few months on the project for the summer of 1937 Paris Exhibition, and abandoned his previous ideas when he was captivated by the historical events of the present time. On April 26, 1937, the German air force bombed the Spanish city of Guernica, a town without defenses or military importance. The bombing of Guernica can be noted as “one of the most wanton acts of the Spanish Civil War.” (pg. 7) The unjustness of the bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War sent a strong “emotional stimulus” taken by Picasso as an inspiration for his current project. Commenting on the power of this inspiration, “…,with such energy indeed that the preliminary studies were completed within the first ten days of May, and the painting itself was apparently finished before the end of June.”

The piece constitutes a universal indictment of war without including objects that are directly associated with modern warfare by showing an abstract of different objects that portray the individuals that were bombed. In the left of the image is a bull; in Spain bullfighting

Picasso’s “Guernica” helped change our view on how the atrocities of war from unjust reasoning effect society. For instance, by using larger than average size for a painting at the time and since his work still to this day inspires deep thought. The year was 1937 and the World’s Fair had just requested Pablo Picasso a highly skillful and renowned artist to commission an antiwar painting that depicted the bombing and senseless deaths of two thousand citizens in Guernica, Spain. Picasso accepted their offer and immediately began creating hundreds of rough drafts depicting the small town in Spain he loved so much. Later that same year at the World’s Fair in Paris, France Guernica’s enormous size of eleven feet tall by twenty feet wide immersed