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Guernica (Picasso)
| Guernica | |
|---|---|
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| Artist | Pablo Picasso |
| Year | 1937 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Cubism, Surrealism |
| Dimensions | 349.3 cm × 776.5 cm (137.4 in × 305.5 in) |
| Location | Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid |
Guernica is a large 1937 oil painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.[1][2] It is one of his best-known works, regarded by many art critics as the most moving and powerful anti-war painting in history.[3] It is exhibited in the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.[4]
The grey, black, and white painting, on a canvas 3.49 meters (11 ft 5 in) tall and 7.76 meters (25 ft 6 in) across, portrays the suffering wrought by violence and chaos. Prominently featured in the composition are a gored horse, a bull, screaming women, a dead baby, a dismembered soldier, and flames.
Picasso painted Guernica at his home in Paris in response to the 26 April 1937 bombing of Guernica, a town in the Basque Country in northern Spain, by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Upon completion, Guernica was exhibited at the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition and then at other venues around the world. The touring exhibition was used to raise funds for Spanish war relief.[5] The painting soon became widely acclaimed, helping to bring worldwide attention to the Spanish Civil War that took place from 1936 to 1939.
It is widely thought that Surrealist photographer and anti-fascist activist Dora Maar, Picasso's romantic partner at the time, had a significant influence on the style and politicized theme of Guernica.[6] Unlike Picasso, Maar was deeply involved in left-wing political activism when they met. Amar Gallery owner states, “She influenced Picasso to paint Guernica – he had never entered political painting before,”.[6] Additionally, as a photographer, Dora Maar introduced Picasso to darkroom techniques during the year he created Guernica. Her oeuvre of black-and-white photography likely influenced his decision to forgo his characteristic use of color, rendering Guernica in stark monochrome.[7]
- ^ Richardson (2016)
- ^ Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. Museo Reina Sofía. (Retrieved 2017-09-07.)
- ^ "Pablo Picasso". Biography.com. 28 August 2019.
- ^ Forrest Brown (21 November 2019). "10 most famous paintings in the world". CNN. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Cohen_2003was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Ferguson, Donna (16 June 2024). "Rare photographs by Dora Maar cast Picasso's tormented muse in a new light". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
- ^ Dickson, Andrew (15 November 2019). "Dora Maar: how Picasso's weeping woman had the last laugh". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
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