research

Hiskey 7

James Hiskey

English 114

26 November 2014

Let’s Solve the Cubist Painting, Guernica

Art is infinite because human beings are infinite with the possibilities of ideas that we can use to interpret great works. In schools, art students learn to interpret famous paintings and sculptures, whose meanings may or may not be different now than when they were created. When specifically learning to interpret paintings, students can experience a world of color and dancing light, the magic brush strokes of eccentric minds, and the subtle lyricism of the gentlest souls. What if I am not an “art person”? you ask. Well, my answer is this: if you desire to search for meaning anywhere in life, you will find it.

fig. 1 Picasso’s Guernica

At first glance, Picasso’s Guernica is a startling piece that cries out for help through an overall theme of great suffering. One of the major elements is the look on the faces of the people and the animals. Another element is the dismembered limbs. A third element in the painting is the two lights. It is a look of open mouths, of pain and despair. First, the dismembered limbs are very dark and scary. Regarding the two lights, the light bulb and the candle light, one can see them as ideas: one modern like a light bulb was in 1937 and old fashioned like a candle light was then. Overall, these elements reveal chaos and pain. People and animals are suffering jointly; there is no prejudice for one over the other. The pain inflicted on them is from a greater force, a greater political force with “greater” ideas. This is a good start but research will help add to this initial interpretation.

Our first step is to research Picasso’s personal life to add to our interpretation of Guernica. In the book, The Genius of Picasso, Luisa Sandoval chronicles the life of the great artist, from his childhood and youth to his last years. Sandoval writes: “Picasso developed into a political painter when he moved as a young artist from Spain to France and back again. He made friends of revolutionary thinkers. His politics became important in his lie and his work” (143). In this part of Sandoval’s book, we are told that Picasso has gained a reputation as a political artist. In Guernica, there are many parts that reflect politics. In the painting, there are many people who are suffering; their mouths are open in pain or in a crying out position. They are crying out for help from the government. The animals are also in pain, so this can negatively affect a society that depends on farming to survive. The light in Guernica is reflective of political ideas that have brought the chaos to the people and animals. But there is hope behind the ideas. Overall, this personal information about Picasso can help enlighten us about Guernica in a political way while I now want to believe that the light in the painting seems to be some hope for suffering people.

Now we will take a historical look at Picasso’s Guernica, a look that continues to reveal suffering. In the article, “The Times of a Great Painter: Picasso,” the author John Guilgood explains the battle in in Guernica: the Spanish Nationalists and Germans against the Spanish. Guilgood writes: “In the year of 1937, German planes entered Spain. They helped the Nationalists by bombing the town of Guernica. Franco—the leader of the Nationalists—entered and fully conquered Guernica” (71). Picasso’s painting Guernica reflects the suffering due to war, suffering that the people of the town have gone through. For example, in the painting, I see a woman crying over her dead baby. She is next to suffering farm animals and dismembered men. These images reflect the consequences of war. Perhaps the horse is frightened and stomping the men. Everyone seems to be reaching for the light, reaching for salvation in their time of war and fear. Overall, learning about the bombing of Guernica really helps to give meaning to the painting of the same name as the town.

Other work by Picasso that is similar to Guernica can help us on our overall interpretation of Guernica. At Wikipedia, Picasso’s painting—The Weeping Woman (figure 2)—is presnted as one of Picsso’s masterpieces. My

figure 2. Picasso’s The Weeping Woman

reaction is that the painting is very colorful yet it has a darkness to it. The woman in the painting looks like she is crying or is very scared of something that has just happened. Picasso’s style of painting is very abstract in The Weeping Woman. This is like the style of Guernica. Picasso illutrates both of these painting with his abstract style but they differ in terms of color: one is in color while the other one is in black and white. Another connection is that the people in both of Picasso’s paintings are searching for help. Both of Picasso’s paintings reflect the style of Cubism.

Another painter of Picasso’s style is Jean Metzinger, and Metzinger’s Woman with a Fan (figure 3) is an early study in Cubism. At Wikipedia, the painting is dated as 1911. The polka dots are circles and they are mixed up by lines. The head too is broken up by geometrical lines. The main element that is left in tact is the fan. The fan is closed, so it also looks as if it is made up of

Figure 3 Jean Metzinger’s A Woman with a Fan (1912)

lines. We feel the chaos of in the subject’s mind because the artist has used a black shading for the brain and for the background. Even though there is a calm beauty about the painting, I can feel the darkness with which the artist created this piece. Likewise Picasso in Guernica has used Cubism to break up some of the subjects. Picasso has also left some elements in tact, such as the light bulb and the candle. These were left in tact because they reveal a juxtaposition of political and social ideas that are clashing; hence the chaos in Guernica. It is easy to see how Picasso must havce been infleunced by Metzinger’s powerful style.

After interpreting some of the elemnts of Picasso’s Guernica (1937), it is clear that the painting is about a town that has been seized by war. It is a rural town with farma animals. From Picasso’s personal life,w e learned that he was a political man and artist. The subject matter of Guernica is definitely political from the crying oyt for help from the government to the light of ideas. By looking at the history of Spain, we learn that Guernica was bombed by Germans who were allies to a Spanish group called the Nationalists. The bombing of innocent people and animals is very obviousin Guernica. Thirdly, by in terpreting another painting by Pablo Picasso, we cansee the Cubist style is definitely repeated in The Weeping Woman (1937). Both of his painting are marked by sorrow. It is very clear that the overall theme of Guernica is suffering of a town that has just been bombed for not wantig to follow the beliefs of invaders. Lastly Jean Metzinger’s A Woman with a Fan (1912) is a precursor to the Cubism style that Picasso would make one of the more famous styles in the world. Hopefully those of you curious about interpreting paintings have learned some steps that will help you explore some of the infinite possibilities of ideas when analyzing art.

Works Cited

Guilgood, John. “The Times of a Great Painter: Picasso.” Art Times 20 Nov.

2000: 70-71. Print.

Metzinger, Jean. Woman with a Fan. Oil on Canvas. Giggenheim Museum. New

York City. Wikipedia. Web. 13 May 2016.

Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. 1937. Oil on canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Picasso.

Web. 26 November 2014. Art 101. Web. 26 November 2014.

Picasso, Pablo. The Weeping Woman. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan

Museum, New York City. Pablo Picasso: Paintings, Quotes, and Biography. Web. 13 May 2016.

Sandoval, Luisa. The Genius of Picasso. Los Angeles: Penguin Press, 2005. Print.