Humanities
05/26/2010

Homework #2
Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Guernica is the masterpiece of Pablo Picasso, a Spanish revolutionary artist of the twentieth century. This huge canvas is the symbol of the horrors of war inspired by the bombing of the town of Guernica, Spain by the Nazi aviation during the Spanish Civil War.
First of all, the initial impression that it gives me when I look at it is a feeling of darkness and fear. My mind starts to create a slideshow of images such as cruelty, blood, and cold.
The colors used in Guernica are reflecting a sense of underground, darkness, and barbarism. The complexity of the painting creates a feeling of a vicious circle. The expression of the universal throughout the numerous faces and expressions feel like there is too much to say, however, not much space to express Picasso’s state of mind at that time. Nevertheless, the main points, notably fear and horror, are definitely present and make me ill at ease. Indeed, Picasso’s masterpiece is a painting that triggers my brain, and brings up all the cruelty, fear, and horror of this world. In general, the painting feels just like a picture shot taken from my worst nightmare.
The cubic shape used in Guernica points out the harshness and the brutality of the Spanish Civil war. Effectively, the straight lines used in Guernica emphasize the feeling of dictatorship and fear among the population in which rules were strict, uniform, and set up by the oppressive Franco. Guernica seems like it has no sense of life since. Moreover, colors are absent. The primitive colors of black and white express the primitive aspect of war that implies blood, darkness, and horror. In the middle of the composition, the injured horse symbolizes freedom that has been taken away by the authoritarian government. The facial expression of the horse reflects a sense of pain and tragedy with a high pitched scream echo than can be heard throughout the image.
In the top left of Guernica, the bull