Guernica by Pablo Picasso
Gloria Mª Díaz Yáñez Miriam Otero Martínez 1
Table of contents: 1. Introduction a. Author’s biography b. Why we chose this painting 2. Formal analysis a. Basic facts b. Subject matter/ description c. Formal qualities d. Style e. Interpretation f. Contents g. Symbolism h. Judgment i. Use of colour 3. The story behind it 4. Conclusion 5. Bibliographical references
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1. Introduction We are going to talk about one of the most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso. Who was one of the most influential artist of the 20th century. He is very wellknown for cofounding the cubist movement. We chose ‘’Guernica’’ because when we were little, in primary school in CEIP O Ramo,we did an art activity and in it, we had to make do a copy of Guernica with papier mâché. And, each one made did a part of it. Gloria, for example, made the horse and Miriam made a woman. 2. Formal analysis a. Basic facts This painting was created during the spring of 1937 (Spanish civil war). And it was based on the air attack in Guernica on 26 April. This painting was ordered by Josep Renan. Guernica , shows the tragedies of the civil war and the suffering of people, specially the ones who were innocent. This work is an antiwar symbol, and a sign of peace. This painting helped the Spanish Civil War to be known. Nowadays, this canvas is exposed in Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid). b. Subject matter/ description Well, in this picture we can see: On the left there is a mum with his dead soon in her arms who are which is under a bull. Under them, there is a dead person. Behind the bull, there is a dove. In the middle there is a light at the top and under it there is a horse and some people, but we can't see their faces. We can only see two men and one hand which holds an oil lamp. (There is a cat on a window) And finally, on the right, there is a person on the background and on his right, there is a door. And there is another one behind him/her.
There are some significant details in this picture, for example: Bull It appears on the left of the picture and its body is dark and its head is white. The animal seems to be stunned because of what is happening s around it. The meaning of the bull is brutality and darkness. Maybe Picasso wants to draw a selfportrait. 3
c. Formal qualities The perspective that is used in this picture is straight on. The colours which are used are dark and clear colours ( black and white). Picasso did about 45 drafts with different characters, they were people and animals. Everything has a meaning which is going to be told in another section. The author used oil on canvas for doing this painting, like in all his paintings. In the painting you can see different grounds, but it’s difficult to identify it. On the foreground, you can see a horse and people running away. On the middle ground you can see people trying to escape from their houses. On the background you can see some buildings and a sun which is like an eye with a bulb in the middle. The atmosphere of this work is the Spanish Civil War and because of this fact people were more suspicious. d. Style The historical fact is the Spanish Civil War which we had already explained in the basic fact, exactly in the subject description. This painting is from cubism because Picasso was one of the cofounders of this movement. This picture is connected with the spanish history. As we have said, with the civil war. A careful analysis revealed the importance of the Spanish Civil War and the bullfighting. e. Interpretation The artist created the painting because he wanted to show how the Spanish civil war was for the innocent people. Picasso wanted to express the suffering of the people. Picasso used black and white colours to give terror and chaos sensations. The picture was made because he wanted people to become aware of the Spanish Civil War. This work conveys a lot of moods, thoughts and emotions, but the most important are chaos and Guernica people, who are terrified because of the war. These moods are expressed in the mum with her dead son, or in the implored man or in the dove. f. Contents Picasso did lots of pictures like for example “The old guitarist”, “Girl before a mirror”, “The blue room”, “The dream”. following cubism rules . People’s mind was changing so artists too. People wanted to had paintings or sculptures of themselves without clothes. Artist had to paint people like that but (genitals were always covered in the pictures and also when the model posed). 4
As well as Picasso other artists painted some pictures. Some of them were Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Watson or Molina. They are good examples about good and famous artists that everybody knows. Picasso used cubism but in the epoque they were, there were a lot of styles like pointillism, expressionism, fauvism, futurism, surrealism and so on. Which were used by a lot of painters. g. Symbolism In this project, each picture has got a symbolism: Bull It appears on the left of the picture and its body is dark and its head is white. The animal seems to be stunned because of what is happening around it. The meaning of the bull is brutality and darkness. Maybe Picasso wants to draw a selfportrait. Mum with her dead son They are under the bull, he seems to be protected by him with the face looking at the sky shouting with pain Her tongue is sharp and her eyes have got teardrop shapes. The Child’s eyes haven’t got pupils because he is dead. A lot of people think that this picture is based on the “Pietá”, very typical in Cristian’s representation when María holds Jesús when he is dead. The subject of the picture is to draw the public’s attention because of the spanish civil war and like this it became famous. Dove It is between the bull and the horse. It has got a wing which is fallen. And its head is looking at the sky with its beak open. Generally, it seems to be the peace which was broken. Implored man There is a man who is looking at the sky. Maybe, because he is praying because he wants that the airplanes to stop. It is inspired in a canvas by Goya. 5
Bulb It is one of the images that awakes a lot of curiosity. It´s in the middle of the picture. We can associate this object with the bombs. But, some people think that it has relation with the Scientific progress and with electronic progress, which is a social advance but it is also a way of modern wars destruction. Horse It is in the middle of the picture. Its body is on the right but its head, as the bull’s head, is on the left. h. Judgement Miriam’s point of view I think that it is a very elaborated painting where Picasso reflects his point of view about Spanish Civil War, and he used a lot of symbolisms in his pictures. I think, that he also wants to show us what kind of feelings there were during that period. I like the painting because of its expressivity, so I think that it is a good work of art. I think that the most appropriate for judging the artwork is the ability of the picture to reflect exactly what Picasso wanted to show us with this innovative movement. My judgement about the quality of this painting is the artwork is very good. Because of its expressivity, I mean, each picture has got his own symbolism . And because of the way he shows us how it was but from a different perspective. Gloria’s point of view As Miriam said, the painting seems to be very elaborated and I agree with her in many things. I also think that ‘’Guernica’’ is Picasso’s point of view of one of the most important wars in Spain. As well as Miriam I think Picasso wanted to explain people from all around the world and in later ages how the war was affecting people and how they felt, especially innocent people. I like this painting because it seems to be like a way for expression and revolution for people who made the war. It’s like a means to say that they didn’t want to be more in this war. My judgement about this painting is that it isn’t a good work of art only because important people who knows about art said it. I think that it is a very good work because Picasso did exactly what he wanted, he expressed his feelings and other people’s feelings too and he also got that people could understand those feelings. 6
Our opinion: We both think that this painting seems to be very elaborated and we both agree with many things which were said before. We also think that ‘’Guernica’’ is Picasso’s point of view of one of the most important wars of Spain. And finally, in our opinion, Picasso wanted to explain to people all around the world and in later ages how the war was affecting people and how they felt, especially innocent people. i. Use of colour In this picture, the colour has got a very important role, because Picasso plays with white and dark colours. Because he wants to bring us the sensation of sadness and terror.
3.The story behind it Miriam’s story: When I saw this picture for the first time, I didn’t understand it very well, basically because I was eight or nine years old and it didn’t attract my attention too much. For me, there are three different stories. So now, I’m going to let my mind fly: On the left, I see a woman who is crying because the bull squashed her child and killed him. The bull seems to be scared, likely because of the woman who is crying and screaming. Or maybe it was in shock because it didn’t want to do it.
In the middle, I see a horse which is squashing a dead soldier and screaming, maybe, because of the light which is over it. And on the right, I see a man with a candle who is going out of a house which is burning. In this house, there is a man who is screaming to because he is burning with the house and he can’t go out because he is captured. There is a woman too, and she is running in search of help. 7
Gloria’s story: When I saw, for the first time, this painting I was 8 years old. I was very surprised about it because it was different from others. Nothing seemed real and it was painted all with dark colours. I didn’t like it too much. I thought that it expressed suffering but I didn’t know what was the reason of the suffering. I centred my view on a horse which was b locked by something which seemed to be a sword. Then I saw a woman jumping through the window and a woman who had her dead son on her arms. I didn’t understood the rest of the painting. 4.Conclusion: In this project, we learned how to analyse a painting and a lot of things related to a very famous picture by Pablo Picasso. We also learned how to use the scoop it. 8
5.Bibliographical references Images: http://www.photosforclass.com/search?text=guernica (2/3/2015) http://www.photosforclass.com/search/guernica/2 (2/3/2015) Presentation: Pictures 3,4,6,7 > Gloria. Guernica. (5/3/2015) Spanish Arts 2011. Spanish art organisation. 2011. (15 /02/2015) http://www.spanishart.org/spanishpaintingguernica.html Vicente Camarasa. Señor del biombo. 5th March 2013. (15/02/2015) http://seordelbiombo.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/analisisycomentariodelguernicade.html BBC. BBC NEWS UK. 7th April 2009.(17/02/2015) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7986540.stm Isabel Sierra.( 02/03/2015) http://catalogo.artium.org/book/export/html/5941 Legomenon. Legomenon Online Literary Journal & Magazine. 31st July 2013. (27/02/2015) http://legomenon.com/guernicameaninganalysisofpaintingbypablopicasso.html Martina. Anundis. 10th Dec 2014. 2/03/2015 http://www.anundis.com/profiles/blogs/guernicainterpretacindelasfiguraspablopicasso Ma rtina.Anudis.10th Dec.2014.(02/03/2015) http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardeo_de_Guernica .(19/02/2015) http://dailynorm.com/2012/01/17/waroncanvasguernicahistoryrepeatingitself/ Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2005-2012. The daily Norm. (03/03/2015) http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2012/09/26/actualidad/1348659484_738270.html (02/03/2015) http://jrtendencia.tripod.com/id48.htm Juani Rojas 2001. Tendencia, Los impresionistas. (10/02/2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNRuIuLtw4s . Los secretos del Guernica en Cadena Ser. Cadena Ser. 10th Seo. 2012. (28/02/2015) http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion/obra/guernica . Paloma Estevan Leal. Página oficial museo reina Sofía.10/02/2015 http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp 2009.(10/02/2015) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_%28painting%29 (10/02/2015)
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