Pablo Picasso
I believe that Picasso’s mural Guernica is Surrealism, Cubism, and Expressionism. However, before I get give my reason why let us look and understand what that mural is about. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form. By doing this, artists are able to use surreal views and expressions to show emotion and convey messages. So, in reality, I don’t think one can have Surrealism, Cubism, and Expressionism without each other. They are all a by-product of each other and compliment each other as well. Now, let's analyze the mural. First, the reason for the mural. Nazi Germany was commissioned by the Spanish nationalists to bomb the town of Guernica in Northern Spain on April 26, 1937. The number of deaths is still being debated on, but it was is estimated that as many as 1600 people were killed. However, the truly sad part about it all was that the attack was launched a mostly women, children, the sickly and elderly since most of the able-bodied men were on the front lines in the Spanish civil war. So now that we know about the incident, let break the mural down.
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Picasso was commissioned by the Spanish Republican Government to create the mural for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.
Being a pioneer in cubism and a major contributor to surrealism and expressionism, Picasso didn’t let this chance to do something amazing slip by. He used the mural to convey an anti-war message and used surreal imagery to drive that message home. If we view the mural from left to right, the first image show is that of a bull. The bull has a dark body and a white head, with the look of pure terror. It is clear to see that the animal was placed there to further signify the brutality and darkness of what had happened. This point was also confirmed by Picasso
himself. Under the bull is an image of a woman sitting or kneeling, and holding a dead child as her face is pointed upward to the sky in anguish. This image was meant to resemble the plastic Catholic image of the “Virgin and Child”. However, Picasso used surrealism to deform the image to express how war isn't sacred and taints everything. The image I want to talk about is to the end of the mural on the right. There were see a man leading to the sky as if he was praying or pleading with God or cursing the Nazi German planes and the building around him burns and crumbles. This just showed that the bombers didn’t care who got caught up in their attacks and the heartlessness of it. As your eye flows through the painting, you see that each image is misshapen and void of reality, yet it still paints a real picture of what's is going on (surrealism). Each point in the mural is also broken into segments, that then come together to form the bigger message that the artist is trying to convey (cubism). Finally, it is easy to see the artist's rendition of all the destruction, death, mutilation and suffering that went on in the painting (expressionism). The Image I explained were the ones that stood out to me most and I felt they would best convey my points about the mural. That's what I think that mural represents and the forms art styles depicted through it.
Picasso was commissioned by the Spanish Republican Government to create the mural for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.
Being a pioneer in cubism and a major contributor to surrealism and expressionism, Picasso didn’t let this chance to do something amazing slip by. He used the mural to convey an anti-war message and used surreal imagery to drive that message home. If we view the mural from left to right, the first image show is that of a bull. The bull has a dark body and a white head, with the look of pure terror. It is clear to see that the animal was placed there to further signify the brutality and darkness of what had happened. This point was also confirmed by Picasso
himself. Under the bull is an image of a woman sitting or kneeling, and holding a dead child as her face is pointed upward to the sky in anguish. This image was meant to resemble the plastic Catholic image of the “Virgin and Child”. However, Picasso used surrealism to deform the image to express how war isn't sacred and taints everything. The image I want to talk about is to the end of the mural on the right. There were see a man leading to the sky as if he was praying or pleading with God or cursing the Nazi German planes and the building around him burns and crumbles. This just showed that the bombers didn’t care who got caught up in their attacks and the heartlessness of it. As your eye flows through the painting, you see that each image is misshapen and void of reality, yet it still paints a real picture of what's is going on (surrealism). Each point in the mural is also broken into segments, that then come together to form the bigger message that the artist is trying to convey (cubism). Finally, it is easy to see the artist's rendition of all the destruction, death, mutilation and suffering that went on in the painting (expressionism). The Image I explained were the ones that stood out to me most and I felt they would best convey my points about the mural. That's what I think that mural represents and the forms art styles depicted through it.