Guernica

In the Thirties the Spanish Civil War broke out, which affected Picasso deeply and on 26th April 1937 the German Air Force bombed Guernica, a small Basque town, massacring the population. Picasso's reaction was the monumental canvas "Guernica", at 11ft x 25 ft. This was a depiction of horror. Cubistic imagery clashes against itself, reminding and informing us of the atrocities that occurred here. Guernica stands as Picasso's second masterpiece due to the multiplicitous ways it hooks into one's brain, tugging strings to relive the awfulness of what happened. There has been much examination of the different symbols within the picture but I feel that more than the symbology, Picasso imbued it with his own energies of pain. By feeling the horror as he worked, he may have communicated that horror through the paint, directly onto the canvas.
With Guernica completed, it seems as though much of Picasso’s energy was spent. Although colour returned to his painting, it became more stark and more abstract. It feels as though he was already starting to wander away from this plane of existence.

 

Weeping Women – 1937.