Guernica: A Vivid Example of Cubist Art

Guernica is a huge painting on a canvas and it stood at 349.3 cm (length) × 776.6 cm (width). Surprisingly it only took Picasso just a little over three weeks to produce this enormous art piece.

Guernica got its name from the town of Guernica that was bombed during the Spanish Civil War, Picasso created this painting to represent all the thousands of innocent people who were injured because of the bombing done by the Nazi.

At first glance, Guernica's painting appears very confusing and chaotic. It could also appear very intensely violent in action. If you observe the painting closely, all of the figures have open mouths. It’s almost as if we can hear them shouting or groaning or screaming in pain. Each figure also has two staring eyes regardless of the angle of the painting. As our eyes adjust to the hectic action, figures begin to appear. On the far left is a woman, head back, screaming in pain and grief, holding the lifeless body of seemingly a child. To her right are the head and partial body of a large bull. Beneath her, is presumably a dead or wounded man with a broken sword. Only his head and arms are visible; the rest of his body is hidden by the overlapping and scattered parts of other figures. In the center stands a terrified horse, mouth open screaming. On the right are three more women. One look appeared to be looking at the light at the top of the painting. Another leans out of the something, extended her long arm holding a lamp. While the third woman appears trapped and screaming in fear. All their faces and bodies are distorted and are semi-abstracted. Eyes are dislocated, and mouths are open.

The painting truly describes the entire war during that period of time. The painting clearly shows the suffering and pain of people who are involved in the war. The art styles in Guernica painting are more on the analytical cubism side, even though the period ended in 1912 and the painting is created in 1937. Although, the painting involves an analytical cubism art style as it appears more of rudimentary shapes, overlapping planes, and multiple perspectives of the situation. Analytical cubism is also mostly monochrome in color which is one of the obvious factors in this painting. Images overlap and intersect, hiding many forms and making it hard to distinguish the figures and their boundaries. The very sharp lines also make the painting look confusing and distorted. The black and white monochromatic colors portray death, mourning, and tragedy. It also has a tone that is displayed as a sharp alternation of black and white contrasts across the surface create a dramatic energy movement, when the painting is viewed. The painting also emphasized by the textured patterned in the center of the painting that creates the illusion of newsprint. Picasso balance the painting by organizing the figures into three groups moving from left to right, while the central figure is right in the middle where the large triangle light is present.