Guernica (1937)

Pablo Picasso's painting of Guernica was painted in 1937, as a reflection off of the Spanish Civil War and the deaths that occurred during the war. Each section of the art you must look very closely at to see what is actually occurring, as if many scenes were put together into one painting. For example, the woman on the far left is crying to the Heavens after the loss of her young child. The person laying on their back looks as though they have committed suicide because of all the marks that could be blood on their arms and the broken sword in their right hand that might have plunged into their heart. This painting is very hard to tell what exactly is happening in each part of the painting. "Picasso wanted his painting to be an unforgettable attack on "brutality and darkness" (McKay, 935). The way each person, animal, and object is created differently and none of them look like they would in reality is very created of Picasso. I think that that is why I like this painting, because it's not your ordinary painting of people who are "picture perfect," so to speak. Picasso went out on a limb as he painted this and I believe he succeeded in an extraordinary painting.