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| Picasso. Guernica, 1937. 107" x 305". Oil on canvas. |
My professor said it was painting Picasso painted because of a Nazi bombing in the north of Spain. Picasso's mom was from the north of Spain and he was horrified by what happened in Spain so he painted this mural in a week or two, I can't remember exactly. I put a map of Spain on here. Guernica is near Bilbao in the northeast.
I have been looking at the painting and trying to find out what all the symbols mean. I know Spain is known for beginning bull fights, so the bull makes sense. My only problem with the bull is that his eyes like a man's eyes. Weird!
I noticed all this craziness is taking place in a room. The light at the top of the painting looks like an eye. Another weird eye, but I love it! Screaming women are peaking in from different parts of the painting. I really like the girl gasping on the top of the painting holding a candle. I just can't tell where the light is coming from - the weird eye/light bulb or the from the candle. The only problem is that the candle is just weak light, so why shine on the horse. I do like how the light forms a triangle shape as sheds light on the room below.
And wow, the horse is just frightening. He is in mid scream. His body is pierced by a lance. I read somewhere that in bull fights, there are men on horses with lances who pierce the bull before matador enters the ring. I wonder if that has anything to do with the horse. The other strange thing is that the horse is covered in texture - it almost looks like newspaper.
There is a broken soldier in the lower right corner. He is clutching a single flower and a broken sword. I also like the how Picasso painted all the lines of his hand on the open palm in the lower left side.
There are the obvious images - the mother with the dying baby and the flames. I am not sure why one of the women is missing her shirt. These people are just broken.
I think one of my favorite things about this painting is that is in just black and white. I mean if Picasso had painted in color and not gotten the flames the right color or the horse's mouth the right red, then I would have spent time on those silly things instead of looking at the stark images he painted.
My professor said Picasso was actually painting a different mural for than one. It was for the World's Fair in Paris and then Guernica was bombed. He began the mural on May 1, 1937 and had completed this 8 feet by 25 feet mural on June 6, 1937. No way I could have done that. It takes me two weeks to do a simple 20" x 18"!
