Guernica

[Music] in the middle of the Spanish Civil War in 1937 the Republican government of Spain asked Pablo Picasso to create a mural for the 1937 World's Fair in Paris Picasso was already based in Paris not having been to Spain since 1934 and he had no idea what to paint on May 1st he sees in the newspapers what happened in the small Spanish city of Guernica the Spanish Civil War opposed the republican democratic government and its allies against the Nationalists led by fascist leader Franco Franco was supported by the church Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini and

on April 26th 1937 with Franco's collaboration Hitler and Mussolini bombed the city of Guernica in the north of Spain killing according to the Basque government 1650 for civilians upon reading about this tragedy Picasso abandoned the murals initial subject an artist's studio to show the world what happened in Guernica it took him a total of 35 days to complete the artwork making it go through several changes during its making the mural was definitely inspired by Picasso's 1935 miniature amake and we can see this by the absence of color and the presence of similar elements such as

a bull a horse a candle a flower a bird a building and its windows the whole painting process was documented by photographer and Picasso's muse Dora Maar her documentation witnesses Picasso's thought process as he changes his mind on different parts of his painting this beautifully illustrates what Picasso once said a painting is not thought out in advance while it is being done it changes as one's thoughts change and when it's finished it goes on changing according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it no matter the interpretation the painting undeniably denounces war

and violence Picasso stayed in Paris during the Nazi occupation it is said that a Gestapo officer who saw a picture of the mural Guernica asked Picasso did you do this the answer was no you did the composition like the event itself is chaotic the viewer doesn't know where to look where to start where to go you are left completely lost and disoriented much of Guernica symbolism is highly debated and when asked to explain the mural Picasso answered it isn't up to the painter to define the symbols otherwise it would be better if he wrote them

out in so many words the public who looks at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand so here are some interpretations of the paintings different symbols first it is said that the painting was made in shades of grey to emphasize the dramatic effect of the event but also to copy the style of newspapers through which Picasso learned about the bombing of Guernica some believed the ball to be Picasso himself some say it could be the people of Spain and some others Sayed represents the brutality of the fascists the mother and her dead child

is less controversial it seems to be a reference to Michelangelo's Pieta but Picasso's representation of the mother expresses her pain even more as she screams towards the sky with eyes shaped like tears the dead soldier is separated in different body parts in one of his hands he's holding a broken sword from which a flower symbolizing hope grows the sword could be a reference to the importance of technological advancement in war especially in the Spanish Civil War where the Republicans were technologically at a disadvantage some art historians believe the soldier to be a defeated bullfighter the

bull being the fascists the horse at the center of the painting is wounded a spear goes through its torso and it looks as if it's about to fall its body contains two hidden images the head of a bull and a sideways skull the bird could possibly be a dove the universal symbol of peace it's hidden in the shadows and it's also screaming the lightbulb is believed to have many meanings first it could represent technological advancement which had a huge part to play in the events of Guernica as it greatly facilitated mass murder and Spanish the

word for bulb is Bambi ax very similar to bomba which means bomb finally the eye shape could mean that either God the artist or the world is watching the oil lamp with the ghostly woman could be the spirit of Spain holding the source of light that illuminates everything we can see this as a symbol of hope where we can also compare this to the use of light in Spanish artist Francisco de Goya as the 3rd of May 1808 where light is used to murder people the injured woman is wounded but she's still limping towards the

light captivated by it supporting the idea that the candle symbolizes hope under a burning building a woman also burns her position has been put in parallel with the position of one of the characters in de Goya as the 3rd of May 1808 and finally because of the walls the floor the table and the door the whole setting seems to be indoors perhaps in an artist's studio but again all the hypothetic meaning of the different symbols even to Picasso himself weren't really important and the painting remains powerful even without them after the World's Fair Picasso refused

to see his painting go back to Spain until it became a democracy it went around the world and it finally stayed at MoMA Picasso died in 1973 without ever seeing Guernica in Spain Franco died two years later in 1975 democracy was restored in 1978 and Guernica for the first time was seen on Spanish soil in 1981 where has stayed ever since