Existing comment:
Photo reproduction of Pablo Picasso's Guernica
1937
oil on canvas
original artwork: 137 x 306 in.
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Picasso drew on several cultural and artistic references, including the Spanish bullfight and Francisco de Goya's Disasters of War etchings, to create his indictment of the Nazi bombing of Guernica. Painted in somber monochromatic colors evocative of newsprint, the mural-sized painting united symbolic imagery -- like a wounded, screeching horse -- with fiery and tragic scenes that directly evoke its wartime subject. New York critics viewed Guernica as an anti-war statement, which some argued steered clear of artistic propaganda. New York artists responded in different ways to Picasso's example: Tamayo absorbed his imagery and conviction to confront contemporary events; Jackson Pollock was drawn to Picasso's animal imagery and his linear style, which was even more evident in the preparatory sketches for Guernica that were also shown in New York. |