Art in the Classroom, November/December 2011
Painting:
Guernica
Artist:
Pablo Picasso
Painted:
1937
Where is it now?
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Size:
11 feet by 25 feet
About The Artist
Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881 and died in 1973 in France. He is considered one of the
world’s most famous and successful artists. Some say Picasso was destined to become an artist –
his first word was “piz” (pencil)! His father was a painter and also an art professor at The School
of Fine Arts in Barcelona. To teach art to his son, he had Picasso copy famous paintings over and
over, and draw pictures of the human body from plaster sculptures and live models. At age 13,
Picasso was already taking advanced classes at his father’s school. By age 16, Picasso moved on
his own to Madrid to study at The Royal Academy of San Fernando, the country’s top art school.
Soon after he arrived, Picasso stopped attending classes and became more interested in pursuing
his career as an artist. Picasso was enthralled by all Madrid had to offer, especially the artwork of
famous painters such as Velasquez, Goya, and El Greco.
Within a few years, Picasso became a well-known and respected artist in Paris, France, which
was then considered the epicenter of the art world. Picasso joined new friends, such as art
collector and poet, Gertrude Stein, fellow artists, Georges Braque and Andre Breton, as well as
composer, Igor Stravinsky, in many projects and long discussions about the changes in art,
politics, and literature.
Picasso became financially successful in his lifetime, which is unusual for many artists. Some of
his most famous works of art are: Demoiselles D’Avignon, Guernica, Portrait of Gertrude Stein,
Still Life with Guitar, and Three Musicians.
Picasso was married twice, and he had four children. He died in 1973 at one of his homes in
France. In his career, Picasso completed approximately 50,000 works of art including paintings,
sculptures, ceramics, drawings, and tapestries.
Picasso is known for many styles of painting, which is unusual for artists of his time, who mainly
used one distinct style for their entire career.
Picasso’s Artistic Phases
Blue Period: Both blue in tone and mood, these paintings often depicted children and women,
who were sad and gaunt and had elongated limbs, as seen in the works of El Greco.
Rose Period: Picasso’s paintings in this phase were much more colorful, and often pictured
circus acrobats, and clowns, called harlequins.
African-Influenced Period: Picasso used African people and artifacts as his inspiration in this
period. His most famous work during this phase is “Demoiselles d’Avignon”.
Cubism: Picasso and his friend, artist Georges Braque, created this new category of painting in
which objects are deconstructed and then depicted as various shapes and textures. This was a
revolutionary style and one of Picasso’s most recognizable periods of art.
Classicism and Surrealism: Classicism was influenced by more traditional, representational
artists, while Surrealism was a movement Picasso adopted from other artists in the 1930’s who
used symbolism to give meaning to their paintings. Guernica is an example of Picasso’s use of
Classicism and Surrealism.
GUERNICA
Guernica is one of Picasso’s most famous paintings. The Spanish government hired Picasso to
paint a mural for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, France. Picasso wasn’t sure what he would
paint, until he heard about a tragic attack in Guernica, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War in the
late 1930’s. German and Italian soldiers bombed the small village of Guernica for over two
hours, leaving the town in ruins, and killing many innocent people. The painting contains
numerous symbolic (and extremely unpleasant) images of war. Although at first, the painting
seems confusing and abstract, due to its “Cubist” style, it is considered a very important piece of
art that reflects Picasso’s outrage at the violence of war. Although Picasso did not think of
himself as political, especially in his artwork, Guernica definitely reflects his desire for peace.
At first, Guernica looks like a puzzle or a kaleidoscope of shapes and angles, but at closer
inspection, viewers will recognize animal and human figures, violence, and intense anger, all
depicted in shades of black, white, and grey.
Picasso’s geometric style marked a big change in painting, from realistic figures and scenes to
the abstract, nonrepresentational. Picasso wanted his viewers to derive meaning from the
painting based on their own reactions instead of dictating what the work represents. Picasso once
said, “It isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote
them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as
they understand them.”
This new approach to art coincided with an overall change in thinking during the 1920’s and
1930’s. As the world was adjusting to a more industrialized, technological age, artists were
reacting with new formats and styles. Examples of artists’ revolutionary approaches: Looking at
traditional objects or concepts from unusual perspectives… dissecting art, literature, performance
to the most basic elements… deriving meaning from political and personal views. This marked a
giant transition from formal portraits and landscapes from past generations.
The following is a list of some of the scenes within Guernica – challenge the students to count
how many scenes they can find. [WARNING to volunteers – please read these bullet points
before discussing with the students – some of them are graphic and not appropriate for younger
children. Use your discretion.]

The overall scene is within a room where, at an open end on the left, a wide-eyed bull stands
over a woman grieving over a dead child in her arms.

The centre is occupied by a horse falling in agony as it had just been run through by a spear
or javelin. It is important to note that the large gaping wound in the horse's side is a major
focus of the painting.

Two "hidden" images formed by the horse appear in Guernica:
o
A human skull overlays the horse's body.
o
A bull appears to gore the horse from underneath. The bull's head is formed mainly by
the horse's entire front leg which has the knee on the ground. The leg's knee cap forms
the head's nose. A horn appears within the horse's breast.

The bull's tail forms the image of a flame with smoke rising from it, seemingly appearing in
a window created by the lighter shade of gray surrounding it.

Under the horse is a dead, apparently dismembered soldier; his hand on a severed arm still
grasps a shattered sword from which a flower grows.

A light bulb blazes in the shape of an evil eye over the suffering horse's head (the bare bulb
of the torturer's cell.) Picasso's intended symbolism in regards to this object is related to the
Spanish word for lightbulb; "bombilla", which makes an allusion to "bomb" and therefore
signifies the destructive effect which technology can have on society.

To the upper right of the horse, a frightened female figure seems to be witnessing the scenes
before her, and appears to have floated into the room through a window. Her arm, also
floating in, carries a flame-lit lamp. The lamp is positioned very close to the bulb, and is a
symbol of hope, clashing with the lightbulb.

From the right, an awe-struck woman staggers towards the center below the floating female
figure. She looks up blankly into the blazing light bulb.

Daggers that suggest screaming replace the tongues of the bull, grieving woman, and horse.

A bird, possibly a dove, stands on a shelf behind the bull in panic.

On the far right, a figure with arms raised in terror is entrapped by fire from above and
below.

A dark wall with an open door defines the right end of the mural.
Although Picasso preferred viewers to draw their own conclusions about his paintings, art critics
are in consensus about the following points about Guernica:

The shape and posture of the bodies express protest.

Picasso uses black, white, and grey paint to set a somber mood and express pain and
chaos.

Flaming buildings and crumbling walls not only express the destruction of Guernica, but
reflect the destructive power of civil war.

The newspaper print used in the painting reflects how Picasso learned of the massacre.

The light bulb in the painting represents the sun.

The broken sword near the bottom of the painting symbolizes the defeat of the people at
the hand of their tormentors.
Additional Discussion Points
1) “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.” This is a quote from Picasso – what do you
think it means? What is an example of this quote from our lives today?
2) I Spy – try to find various shapes within the painting…triangle, hexagon, oval, etc.
3) What would you name the painting?
4) How does the painting make you feel?
5) Would your opinion of Guernica be different if it were painted with colors instead of
black and white? Would the use of color affect your choice of names or the mood of the
painting?
6) What is your favorite period of Picasso’s work? Do you have more than one style?
7) Use a string or measuring tape to show how large Guernica is. Discuss the impact of a
large painting vs. a smaller work.