Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Guernica is a unique painting by Pablo Picasso on a historical war scene. In 1937, Picasso was commissioned by the Spanish Government to paint a mural at the World’s Fair in Paris for which he chose the topic of Spanish Civil War. The Guernica is an oil-on-canvas anti-war painting measuring eleven feet by twenty-five feet. The painting was done in response to the horrible actions and killing linked with Nazi Germany. It depicts a scene of death, suffering and brutality. It is a collage of emotions. Picasso once said that the interpretations for his painting "Guernica" is left to the viewers and therefore he refused to explain anything about his painting.

The black and white approach adopted by the artist has helped to maintain the sorrowful, chaos and sober atmosphere with the merge of the pastoral and the epic style. Thus, the absence of color adds to the strength of the painting. All the elements were painted synchronously to create the desired effect. The painting is rich in symbolism. The viewers could also feel the same terror that the people of Guernica felt. The angular lines used in the painting creates the feeling of anxiety and battle. The cubical style in this painting also resulted in it having various viewpoints and interpretations with figures of people and animals. The mural did not show the bombing in the Guernica city but was focused on the sufferings and destruction experienced by the innocent people. The painter has invoked many hidden Harlequins to conquer the power of death represented in the painting. Moreover, the abstract style in the painting has helped in avoiding the viewers attention in focusing to a specific part of the painting. Guernica is full of hidden images and themes and almost every line and shape in it is extremely meaningful and significant. There is a lot of overlapping figures in the painting. Even though the painting seems to be filled with images, the shading given to all the images created...