Research Paper On Guernica

Pablo Picasso’s piece titled Guernica was painted using oils on a canvas. This piece was made in 1937 as a representation of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The horrors of war are shown through his eyes and point of view of what he thought and believed of the political world. Picasso was possibly one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century; he influences numerous styles of painting and several artists as well, who respected his artworks, style and ideas.

Pablo Picasso was born in the southern part of Spain, in a town called Malaga on October 25th, 1881. He was given the name Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad

His interest started in 1936 when he saw the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and Fascist revolutions led by Francisco Franco. Who was the dictator of Spain at the time, Spain had very poor economic control and the country went through countless problems. But on April 26, 1937, the Nazi’s under the orders of a General bombed Guernica, a town in the Basque part of Spain, killing many innocent civilians mostly women and children. (Boyer, 2007) Guernica was not a target or wasn’t involved with the military in any way, shape or form. The bombing was a very cruel example of what could happen to other towns in the country of Spain. At that time, he was working on a piece to be exhibited for Paris in the summer of 1937 but commissioned by the Spanish Republican government Picasso began to paint Guernica – one of his greatest masterpieces according to (Pilley,

It stands as a sign of the powerful, terrible forces that caused the destruction. In other words, the bull represents Fascism – through not directly responsible but it’s the primary cause of violence and death. It’s also related to bullfighting it includes a horse and a man with a sword which fits well with the traditional bullfighting sport in Spain. It also could mean that the bull is just standing alone, peaceful as a hero and a victim of combat. In the painting you see a man holding a sword or a spear with a flower (representing hope) lying died on the foreground representing the soldiers. The mother and child on the left – the mother is screaming because her child is died and nothing will be able to bring him back to live. Her eyes are tears; her tongue is a dagger pointing up at the bull. The three women to the right - the women holding the torch is his wife, leading the people. The second woman with her hands up is a representation of him admiring one of his favorite painters, Goya. The three women had broken limbs and is wounded just like the horse. Taking an example from one of his painting “The Third of May 1808”, where the man in white is holding his hand begging not to get shot. The wounded horse is centered staged, where most will focus on the terrible pain and suffering it’s going through. The body is wounded by a spear and its role in the