Pablo Picasso's Guernica happens to be one of my favorite paintings, so I decided to elaborate upon what we learned in class on Thursday. I have circled some of the "hidden" elements of the painting (you might have to click on the image for a full-size version, as the circles are very thin). The red circle around the horse's mouth contains a human skull hidden in plain view. Immediately to the left, in the background of the painting, sits a bird, perhaps a dove, circled in light blue. This symbol of peace juxtaposes with the symbol of death, though its relative obscurity suggests that an end to fighting might still be far off. The dead soldier's arms are circled in violet; they are covered in distinctive scratches and piercings known as stigmata. Stigmata are characteristic of crucifixion wounds, suggesting that the soldier is a martyr of sorts. It is also interesting to note that the broken sword held in the soldier's severed right hand is upside down. Though I do not know if holding a sword in such a way has any traditional symbolic meaning, it is a powerful image that suggests vulnerability. Finally, circled in green, there is the mysterious face of a second bull which emerges from the horse's front leg. Picasso included the horse and bull characters in the painting as symbols of Spain; however, this hidden bull appears much more sinister. Its horn points directly toward the horse's wounded side. The meaning of this face (and of the horse and bull imagery in general) has been much debated by critics. Picasso explicitly declined to comment on the significance of his imagery, and no definitive conclusions have been reached. What do you all think of these elements? What do they mean? Can anybody find other features of the painting that I may have missed?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Picasso's Guernica
Pablo Picasso's Guernica happens to be one of my favorite paintings, so I decided to elaborate upon what we learned in class on Thursday. I have circled some of the "hidden" elements of the painting (you might have to click on the image for a full-size version, as the circles are very thin). The red circle around the horse's mouth contains a human skull hidden in plain view. Immediately to the left, in the background of the painting, sits a bird, perhaps a dove, circled in light blue. This symbol of peace juxtaposes with the symbol of death, though its relative obscurity suggests that an end to fighting might still be far off. The dead soldier's arms are circled in violet; they are covered in distinctive scratches and piercings known as stigmata. Stigmata are characteristic of crucifixion wounds, suggesting that the soldier is a martyr of sorts. It is also interesting to note that the broken sword held in the soldier's severed right hand is upside down. Though I do not know if holding a sword in such a way has any traditional symbolic meaning, it is a powerful image that suggests vulnerability. Finally, circled in green, there is the mysterious face of a second bull which emerges from the horse's front leg. Picasso included the horse and bull characters in the painting as symbols of Spain; however, this hidden bull appears much more sinister. Its horn points directly toward the horse's wounded side. The meaning of this face (and of the horse and bull imagery in general) has been much debated by critics. Picasso explicitly declined to comment on the significance of his imagery, and no definitive conclusions have been reached. What do you all think of these elements? What do they mean? Can anybody find other features of the painting that I may have missed?
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8 comments:
Very interesting stuff Collin. I believe each element Picasso integrates into the painting has significance. I would like to comment specifically on the light bulb above the horse's head. This bulb takes on the shape of an evil eye. Picasso's intended symbolism is related to the Spanish word "bombilla". A clear allusion to a bomb, this "bombilla" signifies the destructive effects technology can have on society. Also, this eye can be interpreted as the all seeing eye of God. In this instance, Picasso shows God's awareness of the horrors individuals committed during the revolution.
Blaine and Collin, I think both of your observations about this painting are fascinating. The anti-war sentiment of this painting reminds me of Goya's Executions of the Third of May- 1808. Both paintings use light imagery and involve violent images to convey the despair caused by war. The lantern in Goya's painting symbolizes the Enlightenment, implying that reason and logic have failed to protect the innocent. Do you all see any other similarities between these two paintings?
Julia, this painting immediately reminded me of Executions of the Third of May- 1808 too. Both paintings were produced by Spanish loyalists outraged by the violence enacted upon Spain by other nations. Goya's painting depicts Napoleon's invasion of Spain in which innocent citizens suffered at the hands of brutal French soldiers. Similarly, Picasso's Guernica exposes the violence caused by the German Air Force's air raid experiment upon the unprotected Basque town of Guernica.
Guernica is one of Picasso's early Cubist works. By forcing nature into geometric forms, cubists created abstract art. Using multiple angles, instead of organic lines, allows the image to appear fragmented. I feel that The Waste Land was also broken up in a similar way. Both works of art seem to send a message to their audience of a fragmented modern world, broken into pieces by ongoing war. So both artists, Picasso and Eliot, could possibly have anti-war sentiments.
Although this painting is grim and ominous, Picasso includes a subtle symbol of hope with the tiny plant in bloom above the victim's severed arm and broken sword in the bottom center. I think this is an interesting feature of the painting that demonstrates another similarity between this painting and Eliot's The Waste Land. Eliot, like Picasso, includes a somewhat optimistic element to his work of art when he ends his poem with "shantih shantih shantih," a sort of prayer for peace from The Upanishads. We talked in class today about how Eliot may end the poem with "shantih" to suggest a possible solution to escaping the waste land: peace. Though the plant is faint, it symbolizes the possibility of renewal in the seemingly barren, empty landscape of the modern world.
The imagery in Guernica fascinates me. Picasso's sense of perception creates a visually stimulating painting. This huge work's meaning is amazing to me. The fact that the painting is so large is representative of its importance. Guernica was a horrible battle where many innocent people were killed. I think Picasso chose to make it so large to show the horrors of the event. I also really enjoy that Picasso held onto to Guernica before he gave it to Spain until the Spanish Civil War was over.
What if this was Picasso's way of showing us that Germany invaded, but that Spain's allies were tripping over themselves and taking their time coming to the rescue? First, on the lower center of the right hand side there is a German flag. The person next to the flag whom looks like they are stumbling also has a flag on their back but more interesting they have what appears to be a shark or possibly a submarine in the water. The "eye" in the back ground resembles that of the eye on the American dollar the "all seeing eye" with a burning light bulb resembling that is America's cue to join the war. The white figures that seem to over lap the picture could be Picasso's way of saying that the "knight in Shining Armour" is a Ghost or missing? The "Horse" to me looks like a "Donkey" this time era in Spain horses were not that common but a Donkey was very common.The Center of the picture a donkey also known as a "Jackass" with a bomb/bullet in its mouth symbolizing "biting the bullet" I don't want to sound like a jerk I was just wondering if anyone else saw what I have seen in this picture. Most people look at this and see that it is attached to the bombing and just write it off as that. What if there is much more going on in this picture than what meets the eye? Picasso has always used his illusion in art to "hide" or masque things. Could he have masked his feelings about this event by hiding it in the picture
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