[Writer's Name]

[Supervisor's Name]

[Subject]

[Date]

Pablo Picasso - Guernica

Introduction This paper is an analysis of Pablo Picasso's popular painting Guernica. In this paper, an analysis on the subjectivity, practice, materials, and indented meanings would be addressed in the light of conceptualism. Guernica was painted by Pablo Picasso, who is an artist par excellence, and is considered among the most celebrated artists across the globe.

Picasso painted Guernica as a response to the bombings of the city of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, by German and Italian war crafts on the orders of Spanish Nationalist forces on April 26th, 1973. As a result, a historical town was terribly destroyed and this tragedy hurt the sentiments of thousands of people and the memories of this irrevocable disaster are engraved on the minds of the people forever. The painting that Picasso painted would remain as a historical milestone till the end of time.

Political Perspective of Guernica

The bombings on Guernica emotionally hurt many people, and Pablo Picasso was one such person. He was born in Spain, but when the bombings were carried out on Guernica, he was stationed in France. Prior to the bombings on Guernica, Picasso had decided to paint a mural for the Pavilion in Spain that was to be displayed in the Paris World Fair the succeeding year, but as soon as the bombings occurred, Picasso immediately got a subject in his hand to paint on in order to touch the hearts of the people. Although, Picasso's paintings had always reflected political awareness as he was himself a Republican and because of the reason he was in opposition to the regime of Francisco Franco. His opposition had been clearly depicted through his painting The Dream and Lie of Franco, which he had painted even before the bombings on Guernica. Many people believe that the Spanish Civil War was a propaganda because at that time majority of the Spain was illiterate when the war broke out and soldiers who got recruited in the army could not read or write, so both the Republicans as well as the Nationalists tried their best to use propaganda techniques to win the hearts of people, of not only Spain but entire World as well.

Moreover, the war had a very emotional impact on the lives of the people of Spain; the posters to recruit soldiers were painted with “weak” images of the enemy and “strong” image of the Republicans. Similar was the case with Pablo Picasso's famous painting Guernica, which is said to have created emotional impact on the hearts and minds of the people, even more than the bombings itself. Picasso's Guernica successfully created a worldwide political impact which would remain as an example of a masterpiece in the history of art.

Formal Analysis

The painting of Guernica, painted in black and white, with different tones of gray and blue gives a tragic tone to the paining. It is possible that this choice of color is because Picasso noticed the bombing by German planes in the Basque town of Guernica ...