Guernica by Pablo Picasso Analysis Essay
When people think of war they never think about the good of war, simply because the good is outshined by the loss that comes with the notion of warfare. It does not matter if one is contemplating war from Canada where it is safe from that level of violence or if one is contemplating about it from the front lines, war is war and it is revolting. One of the most devastating losses of war are civilian casualties, women, children, and men that did not ask for their lives to be irrevocably changed. Just before World War II in 1937 Spain was having political turmoil that led to Nazi Germany bombing an innocent town called Guernica to support the rise of General Francisco Franco, whom much like Hitler was a dictator. What made this town innocent is that there was no possibility of military gain, it was strictly a show of power (Robinson, n.d). It was not just bombs that were dropped on the city, but fighter jets were also gunning down anyone caught running for their life. Pableo Picasso was commissioned to create a piece based on the bombing of Guernica, his creation resulted in a mural that is 11 '6 `` tall, one literally cannot help the emotions of empathy that are drawn out from the sheer size of the painting. Picasso’s painting of Guernica (see appendix A) is meant to demonstrate the destruction of war by highlighting the devastation of crimes against humanity, this is accomplished through empathy within the mural and the symbolism within the painting which is interpreted by the audience. The bull on the upper left side of the mural has had many debates over what it symbolizes within the painting.
In order to draw meaning from the bull it is important to identify what the bull means to Spain and to Picasso. A bull is considered an emblem of strength, fertility, hard work and festivity for Spanish culture (Jackson, 2019). However, Picasso seems to incorporate a lot of bulls into his work, he believes himself to be a minotaur which is a fantastical cousin of the common bull, many believe his use of bulls is to show his ties to Spain. When asked about the significance of the horse and bull in this mural he declined to answer, instead Pablo said “... The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them.” (Guernica, n.d). This coincides with Sonja Foss’s (n.d) idea of the Function of the Image, which means that it is up to the viewer to draw conclusions based on what they see and what they know rather than what the artist wants people to draw from their work (pp. 146-147). Therefore the understanding drawn from the bull in this image is meant to depict all of Spain seeming to be shoved to the side but at the same time above the carnage. To demonstrate that not one simple portion of Spain is harmed by this atrocious act but all of Spain is affected by it; however, the positioning of the bull being higher than most of the carnage is meant to show hope that Spain will make it through this act of violence. What makes this mural so different from the rest of Picasso's pieces is the colour scheme, or the lack of colour.
A lot of what individuals interpret comes from the colours of an image, oftentimes an image with bright colour is believed to inspire happiness or similar feelings, whereas a dark colour scheme may result in feelings of sorrow. Throughout the entirety of the mural the colour is mostly black and white with grey and even some brownish tones, but those appear to be very washed out. This further demonstrates the crime against humanity as there is nothing cheerful about it, not one good thing comes from violence, and chaos of war. What is most interesting about the mural is that there almost seems to be word portions of the painting, this has led many to believe that Pablo created a piece of history, as though it were a visual news clipping.
