Farida’s Art and Design blog

ILSARTA

Guernica analysis

Picasso’s Guernica is a painting from 1937 it is his most powerful anti war political statement.

Picasso drew this right after the german nazis did a surprise bombing attack on the small Spanish town Guernica where 1/3 of the civilians were killed.

The picture is drawn in dark colors you don’t see any bright colors which shows that these were dark times.

The pictures portrays chaos and shock to show how the war times felt and how the attack on Guernica came as a shocking surprise.

If you look closely every figure looks terrified confused and in shock.

Picasso used a lot of symbolism in the painting, each figure represents something that is war related.

For example, the bull who often symbolizes brutality and violence.

There’s a horse who has a cut in the middle and is in agony which represents the suffering of the innocent civilians.

On the right side of the painting, I can see a mother who is holding a dead child which represents the grief that people go through because of the loved ones who have passed away because of the war.

There’s a woman who is holding up her arms into the air which shows their desperate need for help she’s asking for help from God.

Looking into the room from a door you can see a figure with a confused face holding a candle to see what’s happening this candle is the only source of light in the picture which represents hope.

A flicker of hope that the war can end.
There’s a lightbulb in the room but if you look closely you will see that the lightbulb is not the source of light in the room.

The lightbulb represents how severe and violent the war has become because of the new weapons and technology. Lightbulb also means bombilla in Spanish which can also symbolize Guernica’s bombing.

There’s broken buildings and burning structure shown in the painting which represents the destruction of Guernica