By analysing Picassos Guernica and what he meant by his painting, this essay will reflect on how a role and the meaning of one piece of art can change over time.
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khagag9nrrnsixorguk (student)
TASK 1: Drawing on the example of Picasso’s Guernica, write an essay of 1000 words discussing the roles, functions and meanings a piece of art can have. Picasso’s Guernica is one of the most famous and powerful anti-war paintings of all time. The meaning of the painting is not immediately clear and as a piece of art it can mean many things to many people. It is crucial to highlight the circumstances surrounding the creation of the painting and to include the past and the current context of the spectator. By analysing Picasso’s Guernica and what he meant by his painting, this essay will reflect on how a role and the meaning of one piece of art can change over time. Picasso painted Guernica as a reaction to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German war planes during the Spanish civil war in 1937. Since 1936 Spain was going through a civil war between the fascist forces led by General Franco and the democratic Republican government. To intimidate the population Franco decided with the help of Adolph Hitler to unleash a terror bombing exercise on Guernica which had no military connection but was important for Basque nationalism and for their tradition of independence. Guernica depicts unforgettable images of violence, turmoil, people and animals suffering in a room full of disarray. The painting gives a clear visual account of the shocking and chaotic effect of war on civilian lives and communities. By painting Guernica, Picasso re-established the importance of history painting which makes Guernica’s meaning easier to understand and it makes the painting more appealing to a wider audience. Guernica’s expression of fear and horror is often compared to Goya’s Third of May. Picasso used Analytical Cubism with a restricted palette of grey, black and white which creates contrast between light and darkness and gives the painting a sorrowful atmosphere conveying suffering and disorder. The composition is full of broken hard-edged geometric shapes and overlapping images which make the space compressed yet fragmented and everything seems to be full of unrest and chaos. The lack of pictorial space and vanishing point brings the action closer to the spectator and also creates a sense of confusion.
In 1937 Picasso was asked by one of the Spanish governments to paint an artwork for an international exhibition in Paris (B. Harris and S. Zucker, 2012). At the time of the bombing Picasso lived in Paris and was horrified when he read the reports of the devastation and death. Guernica was painted as a reaction to the bombing and the brutal massacre. Its role was to draw international attention to the killing of innocent people but also to keep the memory of the bombing of Guernica alive and to create awareness of Picasso’s protest against Franco’s fascist regime. Picasso ...
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In 1937 Picasso was asked by one of the Spanish governments to paint an artwork for an international exhibition in Paris (B. Harris and S. Zucker, 2012). At the time of the bombing Picasso lived in Paris and was horrified when he read the reports of the devastation and death. Guernica was painted as a reaction to the bombing and the brutal massacre. Its role was to draw international attention to the killing of innocent people but also to keep the memory of the bombing of Guernica alive and to create awareness of Picasso’s protest against Franco’s fascist regime. Picasso himself states: ‘No, painting is not interior decoration. It is an instrument of war for attack and defence against the enemy.’,(Picasso, 1945 cited Johnson 1945) which clearly explains that Guernica is regarded by Picasso as a very powerful and effective piece of political art. Picasso lent Guernica to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and he stated in his will that the painting should return to Spain only when Franco’s fascist regime ended and democracy was restored. Picasso’s will caused a lot of controversy as it was a clever way to keep Guernica’s legacy alive and to draw international attention to the atrocities connected to Franco’s fascist dictatorship. After Franco’s death Spain was going through transition to democracy and in 1981 Guernica finally returned to Spain. Currently the painting is on display in Reina Sofia, Spain’s National Museum of Modern Art in Madrid. Guernica has also played a significant political role outside Spain, especially in 1967 during USA’s involvement in the Vietnam War when more than 400 artists signed a petition asking Picasso to withdraw the painting from the USA. According to Hensbergen: ‘Picasso discussed the matter and concluded that the painting was best left where it was, as an ever-present thorn in the American establishment’s side’, (Hensbergen, 2004, p. 273). Over the years there have been many reproductions of Guernica. One of them which was at the centre of a media storm is displayed in the United Nation building in New York. In 2003 the full sized replica was covered up when Colin Powell addressed the press in front of Guernica’s tapestry about the invasion of Iraq. The official reason was that the painting was too distracting but it still attracted a lot of cynical suspicions. Hersbergen citied that: ‘what the picture showed up was the embarrassing contradiction of presuming to take the moral high ground while simultaneously campaigning for war’, (Hensbergen, 2004, p2). Guernica has a huge capability to become a great focus in a variety of political disputes and has a lasting influence to raise anti-war sentiment. When L. Iriondo who survived the bombing and lived in Guernica all his life saw the painting for the first time he felt confused as the picture portrays a horse rather than a donkey which would be more symbolic to Guernica. In the interview Iriondo states that ‘here in Guernica, the painting is seen as a picture for peace’ (Evans, The independent, Wednesday 25 April 2012).Today Guernica is a very symbolic and important town in the Basque country. To the world Guernica represent war and suffering but to the Basque people Guernica represents freedom and democracy. Guernica was re-built with a Peace Museum which focuses on different interpretations of peace. The armed Basque separatist organization Eta which was founded under Franco’s fascist regime has signed in 2010 a ceasefire known as the Guernica Agreement. According to Guernica’s mayor Jose Gorrono ‘the town as well as the painting, has been successful in promoting reconciliation’ (The independent, Wednesday 25 April 2012). As the historical circumstances changed from fascist dictatorship to peace and democracy, a violated town full of suffering and atrocities transformed into a place of peace and freedom, it is crucial to highlight the change in the role and the meaning of Guernica from anti-war to pro-peace painting. As Hensbergen citied in his book: ‘Subtly over the years, Guernica has reinvented itself and changed from being a painting born out of war to one that speaks of reconciliation and the hope for an enduring world peace’ (Guernica, Hensbergen, 2004, pg.3). The role, function and meaning of Guernica has changed over the years not because of any changes in the technique or where it is exhibited but because of changes in the context of world history and in the insights of the spectators. Words count: 1073 References: B.Harris and S. Zucker, 2012, Guernica, [Online]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=626727§ion=2.2 (Accessed 2nd July, 2015) Picasso 1945, cited in Johnson, 2007, [Online]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=626727§ion=2.8 (Accessed 2nd July, 2015) Henbergen, 2004, p. 273, [Online]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=626727§ion=2.7 (Accessed 2nd July, 2015) Evans, 2012, Guernica: a brush with history, The independent, [Online]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=626850 (Accessed 2nd July, 2015) Hensbergen, 2004, p. 273, Guernica, [Online]. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=626727§ion=2.7 (Accessed 2nd July, 2015)
