15 Fascinating Facts About Picasso's ‘Guernica’
You already know Pablo Picassos 1937 painting Guernica is among his most revered works, but do you know how and why he created the anti-war masterpiece?
1. GUERNICA WAS A COMMISSIONED PAINTING.
As the 1937 Worlds Fair approached, members of Spains democratic government wanted the Spanish pavilion at Paris International Exposition Dedicated to Art and Technology to feature a mural that would expose the atrocities of Generalissimo Francisco Franco and his allies. Naturally, these organizers set their sights on one of Spains most celebrated painters, Pablo Picasso, who had first gained recognition in the 1910s with his adoption of cubist artistic expression.
2. PICASSO HADNT BEEN TO SPAIN IN OVER THREE YEARS.
Picasso didnt have to go far to work on a piece for the Paris exhibitionhe had lived in France since 1904. An expat who was vocal about his opposition to the militant autocracy of his home country, Picasso crafted the tribute to the war-torn Spanish city without having set foot within the nations borders since 1934. He would never return to Spain.
3. FRANCOS FORCES BLAMED THE BOMBING DEPICTED IN THE PAINTING ON THEIR RIVALS.
Picassos painting depicts the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica on April 26, 1937. Francos German and Italian allies in the Spanish Civil War carpet-bombed Guernica, a stronghold of Republican opposition to Francos Nationalists, for hours. Casualty estimates vary from 200 to 1000 deaths. To make matters worse, Franco and his allies blamed the horrific attack on Republican forces.
4. AN ARTICLE IN THE TIMES INSPIRED PICASSO.
Picasso didnt witness the Guernica atrocities firsthand, but he was deeply moved by a report of the event written by South African-British journalist George Steer for The Times . The article, titled, The Tragedy of Guernica: A Town Destroyed in Air Attack: Eye-Witnesss Account , was attributed in print to Our Special Correspondent.
5. HE BEGAN WORKING ON THE PAINTING AT THE LAST MINUTE.
Getty ImagesPicasso was so affected by Steers Guernica story that he scrapped all pending plans to devote himself to the pavilion mural. The artist began work on what would be one of his earliest politically inclined pieces on May 1, 1937, approximately three weeks before the scheduled launch of the exhibit. Guernica was not completed until early June, about two weeks after the pavilion opened.
6. PICASSO SIMULTANEOUSLY PUT TOGETHER ANOTHER CRITIQUE OF FRANCO.
The fact that Picasso cranked out what is now known as one of the most famous paintings of the 20th century in just over a month is impressive enough in its own right, but Guernica wasnt even the sole focus of the artists attention during this time. In January 1937, Picasso had published a set of etching and aquatint prints, collectively titled The Dream and Lie of Franco . On June 7 of the same year, around the same time that he delivered Guernica to the Spanish pavilion, Picasso added a second batch of images to The Dream and Lie of Franco .
7. AN EARLY VERSION OF THE PAINTING WAS MORE EMPOWERING.
Unsurprisingly, Guernica evolved between its inception and completion. One of Picassos earliest drafts of the painting included a raised fist, a universal symbol of solidarity in resistance to oppression. Opponents of Francos reign had embraced the emblem during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso depicted the fist empty-handed at first, then grasping a sheaf of grain . Ultimately, he deleted the image altogether.
8. ANOTHER STAGE OF GUERNICA INVOLVED COLOR.
Guernica is one of historys most recognizable grayscale paintings, but at one point during the pieces development, Picasso entertained the idea of adding color to the project. He included a red teardrop sprouting from a crying womans eye, as well as swatches of colored wallpaper. None of these elements made the final cut.
9. PICASSO REFUSED TO TALK ABOUT THE PAINTINGS SYMBOLISM.
Scholars have long tried to decode the significance of the symbols in Guernica , especially the horse and bull figures. Naturally, Picasso was probed to explain the use of these creatures in his painting. He never offered anything more revelatory than This bull is a bull and this horse is a horse, adding , If you give a meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the objects for what they are.
10. EARLY REVIEWS OF THE PAINTING WERENT ALL POSITIVE.
Getty ImagesToday, Guernica is celebrated as one of Picassos premiere achievements. But it wasnt always hailed as a masterpiece. Among the pieces leading detractors were American critic Clement Greenberg (who called Guernica jerky and compressed), French painter and communist Edouard Pignon (who maligned the painting for its misplaced political message and lack of empathy for the working class), French philosopher Paul Nizan (who shared Pignons sentiments, and further called Guernica a product of the bourgeoisie mentality), and American abstract painter Walter Darby Bannard (criticizing in particular the paintings counterintuitive scale).
11. NAZI GERMANY TOOK POTSHOTS AT GUERNICA .
Due to both Guernica s antifascist message and Adolf Hitlers personal aversions to modern art, the official German guidebook for Pariss International Exposition recommended against visiting Picassos piece, which it called a hodgepodge of body parts that any four-year-old could have painted.
12. YEARS LATER, GERMANY USED THE PAINTING IN A MILITARY CAMPAIGN.
Apparently misunderstanding the nature of Guernica and its antiwar stance, the German military used the painting in an ill-conceived recruiting advertisement in 1990. The ad featured the slogan , Hostile images of the enemy are the fathers of war.
13. THE PAINTING INSPIRED A PICASSO EXCHANGE WITH A GESTAPO OFFICER.
Almost as famous for his biting wit as he was for his artistic prowess, Picasso once treated a German Gestapo officer to a sharp rejoinder in reference to the paintings depiction of the atrocities of fascism and war. When asked by an officer about a photo of the painting, Did you do that? Picasso is said to have replied , No, you did.
14. THE PAINTING WAS VANDALIZED BY AN ANTIWAR ACTIVIST.
Getty ImagesAt one point its long residency at New York Citys Museum of Modern Art, Guernica suffered an act of politically-charged defacement. In 1974, Tony Shafrazi who would later become a respected art dealerspray-painted the words KILL ALL LIES over the painting. Upon his apprehension by museum security, Shafrazi famously shouted , Call the curator. I am an artist.
15. THE PAINTING WAS COVERED UP DURING A SPEECH MADE BY COLIN POWELL.
From 1985 to 2009, the United Nations adorned the entrance of its Security Council with a tapestry reproduction of Guernica . In February 2003, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a televised speech on site at the UN, testifying in favor of Americas imminent declaration of war on Iraq. A large blue curtain covered the tapestry during Powells speech.
Conflicting reports attributed the decision to obscure Guernica both to journalists thinking the violent imagery would be unpleasant for viewers of the broadcast, and to the Bush Administration deeming the display of such a recognizable antiwar painting inappropriate for the backdrop of Powells promotion of military action.
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I am not a art expert by any means, but I love to visit museums and look at the beauty I find there be it paintings or sculpture and Picasso is one of my favorites.
I stumbled on this article and found it quite interesting and informative concerning the inspiration for the piece, reviews of it over the years and how it has been seen and used by different groups over the decades.
Fine Art, Literature, Theater and Music go far beyond aesthetics they can evoke virtually every emotion, be used as propaganda, metaphors and subliminal messaging.
A French author once wrote regarding what he wanted from a painting
And another wrote
Every now and again I get to call upon my Masters degree in Fine Art/Art/History (other than when I apply it to my photography).
I could go on all day somebody stop me.
A Mac
Thanks for the feedback
In our sixties now, my bride and I now have season tickets for the nearest symphony and take in plays and ballet in Cleveland from time to time - something we never did much in our younger years.
We also love to visit museums of all shapes and sizes and visit zoos and botanical gardens wherever we can find them
We do not always understand what the artist meant, even after reading it in the guidebooks but we thoroughly enjoy ourselves
Thanks again for the feedback and perspective
Larry
ok
Amazing facts!
We once had a cat that looked as if he had been painted by Picasso... He had some sort of cerebral palsy. He was a brilliant cat, very cunning, but he could barely walk, and his head bobbed around in a circle. Poor thing, he had to grab a bite on the way around. His tail was permanently bent at a right angle, and he danced on his toes. Many times, his hind legs would overtake his front legs and he would fall over into a heap. We named him Ricky, for poor Richard III of England. Ricky's meow was a "Meow-ow-ow-ow-ow", and he would spin his dish when he was hungry, to get Grandma to come feed him...
Roo, Grandma's other cat, took care of him, and he thrived, until Roo died. Poor Ricky got eaten by a dog... We all grieved! Roo guarded him, cared for him, washed him, stood up for him, and always allowed him to eat first. Roo was an 18 pound giant tuxedo cat, and a true gentleman. Ricky was a yellow cat with amber eyes... I miss them!
I know Picasso is talented and wonderful, and revolutionized art-- but I have to be honest-- I like Monet better. Monet painted like I see, fuzzy!
It was around the time of my birth that my uncle, my mother's brother, went to Spain to join the International Brigade, the army made up of soldiers from around the world who gathered to fight fascism. At the end of that war he went on to fight in Europe as a soldier in the Royal Canadian Army. Hemingway's novel, For Whom The Bell Tolls relates a story about the fighters against fascism in Spain at that time.
I have never understood what the Spanish Civil War was about . Was it in opposition to Franco ?
Dowser
Thanks for the feedback
The cats sound like characters and friends - a good model
My wife also likes Manet and others more than Picasso, but that works because we look at and enjoy everything when we go to the museums.
Buzz
Thanks for the feedback
I read a lot of Hemingway in my younger days and enjoyed his style of writing and presenting a story - my favorite is the Sun Also Rises - it inspired me to go to the Running of the Bulls in 1974 and the experience was incredible.
Petey
Here is one view of why it came about